It's Going To Be Okay
by shelvis77
Summary: This is my idea of what happened after The Deathly Hallows. It follows the main Harry Potter characters on their journey after the battle. Mostly Harry/Ginny but some Ron/Hermione as well I know this has been done a lot, but this is my version
1. It's Going to be Okay

Harry turned the corner and saw something that made his heart drop: Ginny was lying on the cold stone floor with a masked death eater standing above her.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" He shouted, lunging at the death eater. The killer merely laughed and began running away, flinging curses over his shoulder. Harry skillfully deflected each curse with hatred. He couldn't believe what he had just seen, and he couldn't stand to look at her, so instead he followed the death eater, swearing to avenge her. But as he was running, he noticed the castle was eerily quiet and it was as if everything was slowing down. He began to look around him as he ran, and what he saw just couldn't be true. Every ten feet or so he would see another dead loved one: Mrs. Weasley…Luna…Neville…Hermione…Ron…

"No!!!" This couldn't be happening. "NOOOO!!!"

Harry flung himself foreword and woke up. _A Dream, _He thought, _Just a dream_. Although relieved, this thought did not bring him happiness. Looking back at the night before, all he could feel was sadness and hatred toward the people that had caused all of it. He was feeling a bit more peaceful with the knowledge that Voldemort was gone, but the overwhelming grief quickly pushed that feeling away. He had lost so many people. Colin, Fred, Remus, Tonks, and countless others were all gone forever because of him. He knew it was a little harsh to blame himself for everything, but he couldn't help it; it was in his nature to take the blame.

He slowly rubbed his eyes and looked around the dormitory, giving a start when he noticed the redheaded girl sitting on the next bed over. She slowly looked up at him, realizing he was awake, and gave him a small smile. "Hey sleepyhead," she quietly spoke, as if he was a fragile little boy. "You've been asleep for a while, not that anyone blames you."

"Ginny." So overcome with relief to actually see her alive, he could only utter her name. He noticed how rough she looked, with cuts and bruises all over her, some more serious than others, and he silently cursed those who had done it to her. He slowly got out of the bed, for he was extremely sore from the night before. Walking over to Ginny, he tightly embraced her, and she returned the hug, hiding her face against his neck. They stayed in that position for a long time, so relieved to have the other in their arms. It seemed unfair that they were both breathing while so many others weren't. Harry noticed that she was shaking, and he knew that Ginny was hiding her tears from him. He himself felt the tears in his eyes. It felt good to cry; after so many months of trying to stay strong he needed to cry. He cried with Ginny until both of their noses were red and their eyes puffy. Harry pulled back to look at her. "It's going to be okay," he told her quietly, looking into her sad brown eyes.

She hastily began to wipe the tears off her face giving him a small smile and repeating, "It's going to be okay." 


	2. Promises

Just a reminder, I don't own anything Harry Potter =) please enjoy!

They sat in the dormitory for a while, not saying anything. Although Harry had just slept for about eighteen hours, he still felt exhausted. He looked at Ginny and found her staring at him intently. It wasn't a harsh look, it was a probing look, and Harry knew what she was thinking. If Ginny had disappeared into the wilderness with no clues as to where she had been for the past several months, he would be curious as well.

He moved so that he was fully looking at her. "Gin, I'm just not ready to talk yet; it's too soon. But I promise, when I'm ready I'll tell you everything. And I want to know everything that happened here too."

She smiled and said, "It's okay Harry, I understand. Well kind of." And then she suddenly frowned and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Ah!" He yelped. "What was that for?"

"That," she explained, "was for making me think you were dead! How could you do that to me Harry? How could you do that to all of us?"

He hung his head as she spoke, and then looked back up at her. "I'm really sorry Ginny, and I promise, I'll explain everything; just not yet. Please."

Her face softened at his request, but she was still frowning as she said, "Okay Harry, I can wait. But you had better not EVER do anything like that to me again! Understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" He said teasingly with a small smile, which she eventually returned. "Where is everyone?"

"I'm not sure, I've been up here for about four hours waiting for you to wake up. When I left them they were still in the Great Hall." Her eyes became sad as she mentioned her family, knowing one had left them forever. He looked back at her, his own sadness mirrored in his eyes. It was going to take them all a long time to get over everything that had happened.

They were interrupted by a loud growling that came from the depths of Harry's stomach. He looked up at her sheepishly. "I haven't eaten in a while."

She laughed and stood up. "Well, come on then, let's go find you something to eat. But after that will you _please_ take a shower? You smell horrible."

Harry smiled impishly and quickly grabbed her up in another tight hug, forcing her to smell him. "What? You don't like the smell of dirt, sweat, and blood? That's just ten months of man stench!"

"Well if that's true," she said wrestling him off, "then Hermione had an awful lot of man stench on her as well! Thankfully, she was sensible enough to shower! Ron on the other hand…"

"Yeah, Ron's hopeless." Harry said as he finally let her go. "Okay, okay, I'll shower. I promise."

"That's your second promise today Harry Potter! You'd better keep them."

"I PROMISE I will," Harry smiled as he grabbed her hand and lead her out of the dormitory. He had missed this: the comfortable banter between them. It felt good to have a little bit of normalcy in his life.

They made their way down to the common room and then out into the hallways. Harry grimaced as he saw how much destruction Hogwarts had been through. Everywhere he looked he found destroyed walls, tattered tapestries, and singed curtains. Occasionally he would spot a horrible-looking bloodstain on the floor or wall. He took a shaky breath and Ginny squeezed his hand as they continued toward the Great Hall.

When they walked in the room, they found the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table. All eyes were red, and all faces were clouded with sadness. Everyone looked like they needed more sleep, especially Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who looked ancient with grief. Harry had lost many people in his life, but he couldn't even imagine what it felt like to lose a child. Harry and Ginny slowly made their way over to the table and silently took a seat. Hermione looked up and sadly smiled; she seemed at a loss of what to do. Harry understood how she felt: he was also feeling a bit intrusive on the family's grieving.

There were a few other families scattered around they hall. Some were mourning lost loved ones and some just looked completely worn out. A few were smiling, completely giddy with the realization that Voldemort was gone forever. Harry began to notice that many heads kept turning his way, and he tried to avoid the gazes by looking down at the table. He realized that he was going to be attracting a lot more attention.

Sorry, I know my chapters are short, but I'll try to upload soon, and hopefully they'll gradually get longer. Thank you for reading!


	3. Physical and Emotional Injuries

There had been so many injured that Madam Pomfrey was frantic, worried that she would neglect somebody. She looked about ready to quit when she saw Harry walk into the hospital wing followed by Hermione and the Weasleys. Harry turned red and smiled sheepishly; He had had enough injuries to fill two lifetimes. If she had seen everything that he had been through…

Madam Pomfrey decided it would be best to examine them one at a time, beginning with Harry. She asked him to take off his shirt so she could inspect him for any major injuries, and when he did, there was a collective gasp from around the room. He looked down to see what was making them so upset and found that most of his chest was covered in a huge purple and black bruise, centered on his heart. The mark that the locket had made was still visible beneath the bruise, and he feared that Hermione had been right when she said it was going to be permanent. He looked up and found the horrified faces of the people he thought of as his family and quickly tried to cover it up. It was obvious to him what had made that mark, but he had forgotten that no one but Ron and Hermione knew what had happened in the forest.

"Potter!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, "What happened!"

"Well…er…um…" If Harry hadn't been ready to tell Ginny what happened, then he definitely wasn't ready to tell Madam Pomfrey and the entire Weasley clan. "A, um, spell hit me pretty hard…and…" He didn't want to admit that he had been hit by the killing curse for the second time in his life. It was hard enough for him to believe and he didn't want to see their reactions. He faded to silence and tenderly touched his chest, instantly regretting it as he felt the pain spread throughout his entire body. He winced as his chest began to throb. _Oh well, _Harry thought, _at least it didn't leave __**another**__ scar. _

Madam Pomfrey could see that he didn't want to talk any longer and sighed deeply. "Well Potter, I'm not sure if there's much I can do…you will probably just have to let it go away on its own. I can give you some potion for the pain, though." She hurried away and came back with a white potion. "Here," she said, handing it to him, "this aught to help a bit." He drank the potion, ignoring the bad taste, and gradually felt the ache in his arms and legs fade away. The pain in his chest was still there, but it had been lessoned thanks to the potion. "Now then, lets see what we can do about everything else." She instantly set to work healing his many cuts and the burns that he had received in the room of requirement. When she was finished with him, she told him "Now, Potter, go and lay down on one of the beds. You're very thin. When's the last time you ate? Never mind, I'll send for a house elf to bring up some sandwiches." And with that, she turned and said, "Alright, Ms. Granger, you next."

As Madam Pomfrey set to work, Harry sat down on a cot that was across the room from the others. He tried to ignore the worried glances Mrs. Weasley and Ginny kept throwing his way and wished for his invisibility cloak, which he had left in the dormitory. One by one everyone was healed to the best of Madam Pomfrey's ability and then they began to eat the sandwiches Kreacher had brought up. Harry hadn't realized how hungry he was until he took his first bite. By the time they were finished he had polished off six sandwiches; Ron had consumed eight. Harry looked up to see Ginny and Hermione staring at them with amused looks on their faces. 

"What!" exclaimed Ron, "We haven't eaten since we left that batty old man's house!"

"Ron," Hermione that "batty old man" saved our lives. You should be really grateful! We wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't covered for us! And then he was kind enough to feed you and-"

"Okay! Okay! Sorry! He was a very nice man…" Ron turned away from Hermione and rolled his eyes, causing Harry to turn away as well so no one could see his smile.

They finished up and started to leave, thanking Madam Pomfrey as they left. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley began to discuss travel arrangements to get back to the Burrow, and everyone else began speaking quietly to one another. As they walked down the hallway, Harry reached for Ginny's hand without looking at her and squeezed it softly. It felt so good to be able to hold hands with her again. But then he began to notice the glances he was getting from her many brothers, and regretted his choice of showing affection in front of them all. His cheeks began to turn a little pink as he squeezed it once more and reluctantly let go. He was surprised when he felt her hand in his a few seconds later and stole a glance at her. She was wearing a look on her face as she glared at her brothers that was clearly challenging all of them to say something about it. A small smile slipped onto his face. Oh, how he had missed her.

A few hours later, they were all in Professor McGonagall's office, getting ready to floo to the Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur were staying behind to make funeral arrangements for Fred. George, his face set, was staying as well, making it clear that he wanted to be present for any arrangements made for his twin. No one protested.

One at a time they stepped into the fireplace with a handful of floo powder and exclaimed, "The Burrow!" finding themselves there a few moments later. The all went quietly into the kitchen, not quite knowing what do to with themselves. It felt weird to Harry, not having to be on his toes every second.

They all simply sat at the table staring at each other, some thinking of the people that had been lost, and some still trying to believe the fact that it was all over. Eventually Hermione, not being able to stand the silence any longer, stood up and announced that she was going to make some tea. There was a feeble attempt at conversation after that and soon the rest of the family showed up, looking tired and completely taken over by grief. George immediately headed up the stairs to his bedroom, saying nothing to the rest of them. Percy rushed to hug his mother, who was still rather teary, and Mr. Weasley addressed the rest of them. "The funeral's set for the day after tomorrow, ten a.m. Remus's and Tonks's funeral will be at one."

Harry was dreading the funerals. He had lost many people in his lifetime, but had only ever been to Dumbledore's, so he didn't quite know what to expect. When the day of the funerals came around, Harry was dressed in an old set of dress robes (he hadn't felt like facing the public to buy new ones), and he stuck to Ginny and Ron's side. Besides George, Ginny and Ron had probably been the closest to Fred. They were seated towards the front of the rows of chairs that were set up in the backyard of the Burrow, facing a small platform where the speaker was supposed to stand. Ginny hadn't spoken all morning and as the speaker walked up to the platform she hid her face against Harry's shoulder. He wrapped one of his arms around her, wishing he could do more.

The funeral started out dreadfully. The speaker, who was ironically the same one who did Bill and Fleur's wedding, kept saying words that meant nothing, and that had nothing to do with Fred and the life he lived. Harry didn't think it was right that someone who had never known Fred was inviting them all to remember him; apparently neither did George, for as soon as he had finished speaking he jumped onto the tiny platform and began making a speech of his own.

"Well, that was lovely, but I'd like to say a few words on my brother's behalf." At this point, Mrs. Weasley began sobbing very loudly, causing many others to tear up as well. "Fred was the best brother I could have asked for. He was a great person and a great wizard, and not bad looking either." A few people tittered through their tears, and Mrs. Weasley gave a loud hiccup. "When this war first started, Fred and I had a conversation about how we would want to die if it should happen. We both agreed that dying while fighting for the good of the wizarding world was the best way to go. We also agreed that we would want to go out with a bang." George, whose face had held a look of immense grief up until then, suddenly cracked a small smile. He looked to the sky as he said, "So Fred, this is for you!" He let lose what seemed like a million firecrackers, each one a different color, making a different shape. All of a sudden, Fred's face lit up the sky and the name _Fred Weasley _wrote itself underneath. As the image of Fred slowly faded away, the Weasley family got out of their seats and made their way towards George, all of them crying, while the rest of the crowd softly clapped as they remembered one of the brave wizards who had died fighting so that they could live a better life.


	4. The Truth

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites! I really appreciate it =) BTW, when I referred to the "batty old man" I meant Aberforth. Enjoy chapter four!

The next few days were devastating; they went to countless funerals and memorial services. After George's, Remus's and Tonks's funeral was the hardest to endure. Harry felt as if he had lost yet another father figure in his life. He was still so shocked that they were gone, and it wasn't until Harry saw little Teddy in his grandmother's arms that it really sunk in. While sitting and listening to the speaker he tried to hold back the hot tears that fell ceaselessly down his cheeks. Ginny stayed by his side the whole time, her comforting hand in his.

After the service was over, Harry silently walked over to Mrs. Tonks. She looked like she hadn't had much sleep for the past few days, her eyes red and puffy. Teddy was asleep in her arms, his hair the sandy color of his father's. Harry held out his arms for him and Andromeda willingly handed him over. He stared down at the little boy with no parents and let the ache pulse inside his chest. He was so thankful that Teddy had a loving grandmother to take care of him. As the baby yawned Harry silently swore that he wouldn't have the same childhood that he did. Harry would tell Teddy all about his parents: how great of a witch and wizard they were, what great mentors, friends, and parents they were…

"Wow, he looks just like them," Ginny, who had joined Harry, said.

"I know. He's going to be a great wizard some day." Harry looked up at Mrs. Tonks and gave her a small, sad smile that she softly returned. He handed Teddy back to her, knowing that he was in good hands. Teddy was the only family she had left.

Mrs. Weasley had joined them at one point to talk to Mrs. Tonks. "Andromeda, you are welcome to come and stay at our home any time."

"Thank you Molly," she spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. She seemed so broken, and she held on to Teddy as if he was her last lifeline. "I'll keep in touch, Harry, and you can come visit Teddy as often as you'd like. I would really enjoy the help and the company."

"I'll be sure to do that soon Mrs. Tonks," Harry replied, still gazing at Teddy.

"Good. And please, Harry, call me Andromeda." She said kindly.

Harry looked away from Teddy to smile at her, and told her goodbye before He, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley family headed back to the Burrow.

The next few weeks were quite uneventful. Harry stayed at the Burrow, wary of the press that was no doubt keeping an eye out for him. There had been a few instances where he spotted a few men with cameras, scooping out the Burrow. Thankfully, Mr. Weasley put up enough protection charms to keep them from being able to see the place. After a few hours, they always went home, but Harry still stayed away, just in case.

Hermione decided that it was time she went to Australia to find her parents. Ron, who had become very protective of her since Malfoy Manor, told her that he was going with her in a tone that was not meant to be argued with. Harry decided to let them go on this adventure alone, ready for some peace in his life. They went by way of muggle transportation, taking an airplane. Ron, who had turned quite green at the thought of flying in a big metal object, was not happy.

"How in the bloody hell does it stay in the air?" He asked, quite flustered.

"I'll be sure to get a book on airplanes for you to read." Hermione said brightly, seeming to think this would make it all better. "You could even read it on the plane! That would give you something to do."

"What do you mean 'something to do'? We're not going to be on it for very long, are we?"

Silence.

"Are we? Hermione, how long is it going to take?" Ron, who was turning an even deeper shade of green, asked frantically.

"Just a few hours, Ron, It'll be over before you-"

"A FEW _HOURS_! _HOURS_? IT'S GOING TO TAKE _HOURS_?"

"Ron, calm down, it's completely safe." It took several more minutes before Hermione was able to persuade him to take the airplane. They packed in a day and were gone the next, not quite sure when they would be back.

Mr. Weasley and Percy were busy at the ministry, trying to get things back in order. Bill and Fleur were busy at Gringotts, which needed a great deal of order as well. After things had calmed down a bit, Charlie went back to Romania to be with the dragons. George, who was still quite depressed, stayed locked in his room a good deal of the time. This left Harry and Ginny alone (with Mrs. Weasley, of course) to do what they pleased.

Harry hadn't been quite sure about where they were in their relationship. They held hands and had long talks, but they hadn't kissed since his birthday.

It wasn't that he didn't want to; boy, did he want to! There was nothing in the world that compared to kissing Ginny. But now that he knew they had a lot of time, he wanted to take their relationship slow. He was tired of rushing.

They spent a lot of their time outdoors, brooms as far as the protection charms allowed them to go (Harry had to borrow an old broom of the Weasleys'), and taking walks around the garden. It was on one of these after-dinner walks that Harry turned suddenly to look at Ginny.

"Gin, I think I'm ready," He said, looking into her eyes.

She looked quite taken aback. "Ready for what?" she asked, a slight crease in her forehead.

"I'm ready to tell you everything," he said confidently. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'm…I'm ready."

She simply looked back at him. "Okay."

Harry let go of her hand and conjured up a blanked, placing it under a big oak tree that kept them out of view of the house. He sat down and patted the place next to him, inviting her to come. Instead, Ginny sat down across from Harry so she could see his face.

He took a deep breath, trying to figure out where he was going to begin. He decided to start with his fifth year when Dumbledore told him about the prophecy. Ginny listened with wide eyes as Harry told her about he ending that was decided for him. He went into detail about the lessons he had with Dumbledore, telling her everything he'd seen in the pensive and everything Dumbledore told him. Her eyes grew even wider as Harry told her about horcruxes, about how there were seven, about how he was the one who had to find them…

Ginny stayed silent the whole time, only slipping when she exclaimed, "That Git!" when she found out Ron had left. At moments like Godrics Hollow and Malfoy manor she closed her eyes, horrified at what he had been through. When he told her about the doe and how Ron had saved him her eyes softened a bit, only to flash once again with anger when Harry told her what Mr. Lovegood had done.

"It was only to save Luna," Harry explained softly. She only shrugged and motioned for him to continue. He sighed and began again.

It was dark by the time Harry got to the battle. His voice began to shake as he recalled it all, the memories flowing back as though a dam had broken. It was so hard for him to relive these experiences that were the worst in his life, but it felt so good to talk to Ginny about them.

He told her about how the three of them arrived at Hogwarts and how Aberforth had saved their lives. As he explained the situation with the diadem and Malfoy in the room of requirement, her eyes grew wide once more, at first with anger at Crabbe, then horror at the Fiendfyre. Harry, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk about it, had not mentioned the part where Fred died. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. As he was making his way through Snape's memories he could see her become weary, guessing what was coming next. His voice became very quiet while he told her how he thought he was walking to his death. She began to cry silent tears when he talked about his parents, Sirius, and Remus coming back, and he cried with her. Her eyes closed once more and the tears fell even faster as the killing curse hit him for the second time. He tried to explain King's Cross the best he could, but he still didn't understand it fully himself. He explained how hard it had been to stay still while hearing her scream his name, and how he had pulled on his invisibility cloak the first chance he had.

"I guess you know the rest," he said, wiping away the remains of his tears.

Ginny stayed silent even after he finished, staring into his eyes. He wiped away her remaining tears with his thumbs and took one of her hands into both of his.

"Ginny, the whole time I was gone I missed you like crazy. I spent every night just thinking about what you were doing. I'm really sorry we just took off like that; it wasn't fair to you. And I'm really sorry that-"

Ginny put a finger against his lips. "It's okay Harry, I understand now; I know why I couldn't go with you."

Harry stared down at her, letting all of his emotion take control. "Ginny, I was worried sick about you the whole time I was gone, and when I was walking to the forest it took all I had not to turn around and hold you. And…and right before Voldemort hit me with the curse all I could see and feel was you because-"

Why? Why did he feel all of these things? Why did he feel that he wouldn't be able to move on if anything happened to her? Why was she in his every thought and feeling?

"I love you," he realized, saying it out loud. Ginny's mouth fell open, a gentle look of surprise on her face. When he realized what he had just admitted out loud, he turned a little pink and started to try and recover. "I, um…"

But she didn't let him finish. She reached up and put her arms around his neck, capturing his lips in a kiss that held so much longing and happiness that it took his breath away. He kissed her back, not wanting to end it. As they finally broke away, Harry opened his eyes to find her warm brown ones just centimeters away. "I love you too," she told him in a soft whisper, all traces of tears gone. He gave her one more lingering kiss before holding her tightly to him.

He would never let her go.

Well, I really hoped you enjoyed that! Thank you to everyone who has commented, or added me to his or her favorite authors/stories! I really appreciate them =). Please feel free to review this chapter and give me your thoughts, good or bad. I'll update just as soon as I can.


	5. Birds and Bees and How to Avoid Them

Okay, it has been WAY to long since I've updated, but I've been REALLY busy! Hopefully it will become easier to update as summer rolls around, but I'm really sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter =)

Harry and Ginny's happiness seemed to be contagious. Although Fred's death was still effecting everyone, one look at the couple and they couldn't help but put a smile on their faces. Harry couldn't ever remember being happier. The two refrained from kissing in her family's presence, but they were almost always holding hands or touching in some way around each other.

George spent a little more time with all of them each day, but he was still depressed. It was common to walk in on Molly crying, but she would quickly try to cover her tears and make herself busy with cleaning or cooking, putting on a show for the rest of the family. A little of the sparkle in Mr. Weasley's eyes had died with his son, but he spent a lot of time with Molly, being her solid rock.

Molly was also worried about Ron and Hermione.

"It has been TWO WEEKS since I have seen my little boy and I haven't gotten ONE OWL from him! And I can't very well send HIM one because I have no BLOODY idea where they went!" This was one version of the rants Molly often had about his youngest son, and although the family was getting tired of them, no one dared to try and stop her; after losing one son, she had every right to fret about losing another one.

Harry hoped that Ron and Hermione would come back soon. Although he loved hanging out with Ginny, he missed his two best friends. Ginny could see that it was affecting him, and tried to take his mind off of it with distractions. They usually worked.

These distractions usually took place behind the oak tree in the garden. They could spend endless minutes kissing one another, finally breaking off so they could breathe. Mrs. Weasley usually knew what they were up to, but left them alone. She could trust Harry with her daughter because she thought of him as her own son. She did, however, worry that they would take things too fast, and it was this worry that led her to a one-on-one talk with Ginny.

Molly found Ginny in a rare moment without Harry in her bedroom reading a quittich magazine. She knocked softly on her open door and said, "Ginny Dear? May I come in?"

"Sure, Mum," Ginny had a confused look on her face. She couldn't understand why her mother looked so nervous.

Mrs. Weasley walked over to Ginny's bed and took a seat on the end. Ginny sat up and looked at her mother expectantly.

Molly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If she didn't word this right then she knew what Ginny's temper would bring. "Well Ginny, I've noticed that you and Harry…that you two have been getting very close…" Ginny's ears began to turn red at her mother's words, but she nevertheless kept a steady eye contact. She could see where this conversation was heading, and she tried to stop it before it became unbearable.

"Mum…Harry and I, we're just enjoying spending time with each other right now. We've realized that we finally have time to just do that, and we don't have to worry about very much. Don't worry, we're taking it pretty slow." She smiled at her mother and let out a little giggle. "Besides, Harry's pretty clueless about girls…I don't even know if that thought has entered his mind."

Molly smiled at her daughter's words, and was comforted by them. But she knew better- she HAD raised six boys after all, and she knew what went on in a seventeen-year-old boys mind.

"Well, just in case," Mrs. Weasley told her daughter, "I've sent your father to talk to Harry as well."

The smile on Ginny's face vanished and was replaced by a look of someone who had just been slapped. "You WHAT?"

"Now Ginny, calm down, someone needs to talk to the boy; I don't even know if he's ever had 'the talk' before and-"

"MUM! How could you do this to me? Harry is never going to be able to look at me in the eye again!"

A few floors down, Harry was having similar thoughts. Mr. Weasley had nervously walked into the living room where Harry sat practicing wizard's chess by himself. Arthur didn't want to have this conversation one bit, but he knew that it was part of his responsibility. Even though he had done this with six other boys, he knew this would never be easy. He decided it was best just to get it over with and cleared his throat uncertainly.

"Er, Harry? Could I have a word with you?" Mr. Weasley was looking anywhere but at Harry.

"Of-of course Mr. Weasley. What's wrong?" Seeing Arthur so nervous was causing to Harry to sweat as well. He could fight Dark Lords and dragons, but when it came to awkward conversations with his girlfriend's father – well, that was where his bravery was lost.

"Well Harry, I – well that is to say I – I just needed to discuss some things, Molly you see, um…" _I need to be more confident, or he won't take me seriously, _Mr. Weasley thought to himself. He shook his head and began again. "Harry, I just wanted to talk to you about your relationship with Ginny. Molly and I have noticed that you've been spending a lot of time together lately, and we just wanted to make sure you're both acting responsibly and…oh for goodness sake, Harry, I assume you've had _the talk_ before, correct?"

Harry turned bright red and looked at the floor as he nodded. "Sirius and I, um, talked at Grimmauld's Place my fifth year. But I knew about it a long time before that." Harry, being a teenage boy, felt it was very important for this last piece of information to be known.

Mr. Weasley's face grew soft as he looked at the awkward seventeen-year-old. "Harry, Molly and I think of you as our son, and we trust the both of you. We just don't want you two to make a mistake that you'll regret later. It is a precious, precious thing that is not to be taken lightly, and I encourage you both to wait until you're married." He clapped Harry on the back and stood up to leave. Harry was deep in thought until Mr. Weasley's last words registered in his mind and he looked up, startled. As soon as Mr. Weasley turned away from Harry he silently chuckled. Obviously the thought of marriage hadn't even entered the boy's mind yet.

Upstairs, the conversation between Ginny and her mother had calmed down enough for Molly to say, "Ginny dear, you father and I know that you and Harry are very grown up for your age and responsible. For goodness sake, you've both been through so much already! We just want you to…think about things and their consequences. Don't make a mistake that you will regret later, okay?"

Ginny, taking deep breaths, nodded to her mother. She was fine with waiting; what she wasn't fine with was facing Harry after this conversation.

Thirty minutes later, Ginny found Harry out in the garden. She took a seat next to him and put her hand on top of his. He turned his over and gave her fingers a squeeze. She could see that he was blushing, even though it was growing dark outside. He finally took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking at her. He gave her a half smile that said clearly, _what a day, huh_? She returned his look with a roll of her eyes and a reluctant giggle. She leaned her head on his shoulder and gave a little sigh of her own. After a few minutes of comfortable silence Harry finally spoke.

"Ginny?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Please, don't ever let me do anything that you aren't comfortable with, okay?"

"Oh _please_, Harry. We need to be worried about the other way around"

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Harry turned to look at her with a slight smile on his face.

Ginny took her head off his shoulder and looked back at him. "Come on, I totally made the first move."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, it SO is!"

"_I_ kissed YOU in the common room!"

"Okay, that may be true, but _I_ kissed YOU first last summer _and_ this summer. Don't even try to deny it Potter, I wear the pants in this relationship." She gave him a flirty smile and put her head back on his shoulder.

Harry leaned his head on top of hers. "Well, that's just going to have to change, now, isn't it?"

"We'll see…" Ginny closed her eyes and just enjoyed her time with the boy she had waited so long to have.

I REALLY hoped you liked this! and so sorry again for the long wait! i'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Comments are welcome!


	6. Friends Return and Bring Drama with them

Thanks for all the reviews guys! They made me want to update even sooner! The first three paragraphs are taken directly from the seventh Harry Potter book. No copyright infringement intended!

"_Ginny," said Harry, "I'm sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in."_

_Ginny looked simply delighted to leave her sanctuary._

"_And then you can come back in!" he shouted after her as she ran up the steps after Tonks. "You've got to come back in!"_

_As soon as Ginny was out of Harry's sight, he heard a heart-piercing scream. His knees went weak; he knew that scream._

"_GINNY!" Harry raced up the steps after Ginny, dreading what he was about to see. As he came to the last step, he saw what he feared most: Ginny was lying on the ground, motionless, eyes wide open, a look of sheer terror still etched on her face._

"_NOOOOO!" Harry crawled over too her and took her still body in his arms, holding her tightly. "My fault, my fault, my fault," he said over and over. "My fault, my fault."_

"_Harry!"_

_He ignored the person calling his name, knowing that nothing mattered to him anymore. He wanted to join Ginny in peaceful death. "My fault, my fault, my fault."_

"Harry!" Someone was shaking him - hard. "HARRY!"

"My fault, my fault, my fault."

"Harry, you have to wake up," this voice was gentler, pleading.

"Harry mate, you're having a dream!" Harry knew this voice, but he hadn't heard it in a while…

Harry startled awake when he realized who was speaking. "Ron? Ron! Hermione! When did you get back?"

"Only just. We had a crazy time mate-"

Hermione interrupted, "Harry, are you alright? You sounded like you were in a lot of pain."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured them. "These kinds of dreams happen at least three times a week…"

Hermione looked concerned. "Harry…are you sure you're okay? I mean, I have dreams too, but not that often! What are they about?"

"Just the war…it's not a big deal, really! I'll be okay, Hermione."

"Well, if you're sure…" She still didn't look convinced but decided to leave him alone. "I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed. See you in the morning!"

"Wait! Aren't you going to tell me what happened in Australia?"

"We'll tell you in the morning, Harry," said Ron while yawning. "I'm dead on my feet." He walked over to Hermione and gave her a hug, although he looked like he wanted to do more. When Hermione left, Harry raised his eyebrows at him. Ron answered with a look that clearly said 'shut up', and Harry didn't say anything but "night". He was too tired too harass his best friend about his love life.

As soon as Ron's head hit his pillow he was fast asleep, but Harry was still haunted by the image of Ginny. As soon as he was sure Ron was out for good, he slowly got out of bed and eased Ron's door open. As he made his way down to Ginny's room he made sure to skip all the creaky steps and tread lightly over the less-than-stable floor. He had done this so many times that he knew where and where not to step. When he reached Ginny's room he slowly pushed in her door, cringing when it squeaked. Thankfully Hermione was sleeping in Percy's old room, so he wouldn't have to worry about waking her, as she was a light sleeper. Ginny, on the other hand, wouldn't wake up if an earthquake struck The Burrow. Harry crept into her room and stood over her sleeping body. _I don't even WANT to know how she would react if she woke and saw me standing here_, Harry thought. _Her reflexes are deadly_. Seeing her peaceful body made him relax, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead, just as he did every time he had a nightmare about her. She smiled when he did so, and mumbled his name. He chuckled and made his way back towards Ron's room, loving her even more.

The next morning, Harry slept in longer that normal. He found everyone in the kitchen, focused intently on Ron and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the room, shoving more and more food under their noses, insisting that they looked too thin. They didn't protest, but quietly ate the food that was given to them. When She noticed Harry's arrival she ushered him to the table and started shoving food under his nose as well.

"Good, Harry, now Ron and Hermione can tell us everything that happened!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "We were so worried!" When she said this, she turned to Ron and Hermione and gave them a pointed look.

"Sorry Mum, but there wasn't a lot of access to owls down in Australia," Ron explained, "and we were sort of busy…" At this he looked sheepishly at Hermione and fell silent.

Harry, noticing a person missing asked, "Where's Ginny?"

Mrs. Weasley answered, "She had a few errands to run down in Diagon Alley, dear."

"Why didn't she wait for me?"

"Harry," Hermione said, "think about what's coming up in a couple weeks."

Harry only stared at her, confused, and Hermione sighed. "Your birthday…?"

Understanding, Harry smiled to himself, wondering how Ginny could ever top his present last year.

Ron, getting impatient, said, "Okay, now that everyone's accounted for, can we begin?" Immediately all eyes were on the pair of them as they began their story. "Well, after we got there, there were a lot of things we had to figure out, like where we were staying, how long we planned to be there, etc. Thankfully, Hermione still had the tent, so all we had to do was find a forest and set up camp-"

"Ron," Hermione interrupted, "I don't think they need to hear _every detail._"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Fine! YOU tell it then."

Hermione smiled and continued the story, explaining to them how they couldn't just walk up to her parents and tell them they had a daughter. They had to ease into it, let her parents get to know her for a week or two first. Thus, they pretended to be new neighbors and visited them almost every day.

Hermione laughed. "We were probably the pushiest neighbors they had ever come across! But it was really good to see them, and I couldn't stay away."

She told of how they finally told them who they really were and put their memories back to normal.

"They though we were bonkers at first!" Ron exclaimed. "Possessed or something…but once we calmed them down they both admitted that something had seemed familiar about Hermione, and allowed her to restore their whole bloody brains. They weren't too happy about it, saying that she should have allowed them to help instead of shipping them off to another country, but eventually they were just happy Hermione was okay."

"But why did it take you so long to come home?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "You were there for a lot longer than two weeks!"

"Well," Hermione began, "my parents decided that it would be best to move back to England, so we helped them sell the house in Australia and get everything in order to come home, which took a while. Then once we got here…the house…" At this Hermione put her hands over her face as tears leaked from her eyes.

Ron could see that Hermione couldn't continue, so he finished the story for her. "When we got to the house we found the whole bloody thing destroyed. Torn to bits! I guess the Death Eaters went looking for them after all, and when no one was there destroyed it out of anger…we don't really know what the story is there, but we were really glad Hermione made the decision to send them away." At this, Hermione emitted a loud hiccup and shivered, and Ron put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"But why didn't you contact us as soon as you were in England! We were worried sick, young man!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Sorry Mum…we got so caught up in helping out Mr. and Mrs. Granger that I guess we just forgot…" Ron grew quiet and shot another sheepish glance towards Hermione, who had finally gotten a hold of herself.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, "you won't be going on another adventure for a long while Ron. You need to get some rest after the year you've been through! And Hermione, even though I have no control over what you do, I advise you to do the same!"

After a moment of silence, Mr. Weasley spoke for the first time. "So where are the Grangers living now? Do they need a place to stay?"

Hermione shook her head at him. "They decided to just buy a new house instead of bothering to fix up the old one. It was sad to see it go, but it gives them the opportunity to find a smaller one, now that I don't really live with them anymore. I'm going to find a flat, you see."

Everyone looked surprised at this, but it was nothing compared to how they reacted when Ron said, "Er, yeah, um…me too."

Ooooooh, what's going to happen? How will Mrs. Weasley react to THIS news? Wait and see! I'll try to update soon! Oh, and does anyone have any idea when Ginny's birthday is? I have no idea! Let me know if you can =)


	7. Growing Up and A Little Sideways

Thanks for all the reviews guys! Once again, sorry it took me a while to write another chapter…I hope ya'll like it!

Silence. That was all that was heard at the Weasley table. Just silence. Until-

"YOU WHAT?" The whole table jumped at Molly Weasley's outburst. "I don't understand, Ronald, why would you want to do that?"

"I don't know, Mum, I just feel like its time for me to find my place in this new life. I grew up in the past year, and I'm ready to have that kind of responsibility." Ron's face was very serious as he said all this, and some of the Weasley family looked slightly stunned at the youngest Weasley boy that had indeed grown up.

"But what about school? What are you going to do when you have to go back to Hogwarts?" Mrs. Weasley stared intently at her son, who avoided her gaze.

"Well, actually, I don't plan on going back next year; I don't feel like I need to anymore. I had my heart set on being an Auror, but after this year I just want a break! I'm tired of fighting evil." At this last statement there were titters around the table, but they soon broke off as soon as Mrs. Weasley started talking again.

"So you're just going to drop out? No one will hire you! Everyone will expect a full education and-"

"I will." George spoke. Everyone looked around at him in shock; he hadn't said anything in days.

"You'll what Georgie?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I'll hire him. I'm gonna need a co-owner, and I'd like to keep it in the family. It is WEASLEY's Wizard Wheezes, after all. I'd be glad to take the little rebel in, if he wants that is…?" George looked at his brother expectantly who in turn was looking surprised and completely flattered.

"Seriously?"

George gave a small laugh. "Yeah Bro. Seriously. You've shown a great deal of potential in the past year." At this he gave Ron a little wink.

"Well, I still think that Ron should finish his education! It will help him later in life. I don't want you to regret this Ronald!"

Mr. Weasley, who had been silent through this whole thing, decided it was time for him to step in. "Molly, as much as I wish Ron would go back to school as well, we have to respect his decisions. He's of age and He is certainly old enough to make his own choices in life, and in turn deal with the consequences of some of those choices."

Although Molly didn't look happy about the situation, she didn't argue. Instead she turned to Hermione, who winced, and said, "Hermione, dear, what do you plan on doing when the school year rolls around?"

At this Ron gave a great snort, but was silenced at the look Hermione gave him. She turned back to Molly and answered, "I can't imagine that any job I would want wouldn't require N.E.W.T.s, so I suppose I'll have to go back, won't I?"

Satisfied, Molly turned to Harry. "And you, Harry?"

Harry looked thoughtful as he said, "Well, I still want to be an Auror, so I guess I'll have to go back and get my N.E.W.T.s…I might talk to Professor McGonagall and see if I can work something out with her under the circumstances. I don't know…it would feel too…" Harry struggled to find a way to explain himself, "…Normal to go back to school."

Everyone was pondering Harry's statement when Ginny walked in. She took a look at the serious faces around the table and sighed, "Oh dear, what have I missed?"

At this, George grabbed his plate and took it to the sink as he answered, "Nothing at all. Simply the futures of our ickle Ronniekins and his gallant partners in crime." And with that he patted Ginny on the head once and left the room.

Ginny rolled her eyes and took his seat at the table. She hesitated before she spoke. "So…what's the plan?" She looked around the table, her eyes landing on Harry.

Harry sighed as he answered, "Ron's not going back, Hermione is, and I'm…undecided."

Ginny crossed her arms and smirked at Harry, "And _I'm_ not enough of a reason to go back, Mr. Potter?"

Ron fake gagged into his empty porridge bowl. "Aaaand that's my cue to leave." He grabbed his and Hermione's dishes and put them in the sink before he walked out of the kitchen, followed by Hermione.

Harry laughed at Ginny and Ron's reaction as he too placed his plate in the sink. He thanked Mrs. Weasley for breakfast and grabbed Ginny's hand and led her outside to the garden. They walked in silence for a while before Harry finally spoke, "Ron and Hermione are going to find their own place." Ginny stopped walking and looked at him.

"Are they getting one _together_?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it again realizing he didn't know the answer to that question himself. He shrugged and said, "If they are, they definitely didn't mention it to your mother."

Ginny snorted, "Smart move." She was quiet again for a minute before continuing in a more serious tone, "So, are you going to find your own place too?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I will eventually, but I need to figure out if I'm going back to Hogwarts or not first. It would be an awful idea to buy or rent a place and then leave for nine months. I don't know…I'll figure it out soon enough. Now onto the important stuff: what did you get me for my birthday?"

Ginny cracked a grin at his question. "Not a chance Potter! You'll have to wait until your actual birthday, just like all the ordinary people."

Harry shook his head in mock disappointment. "You'd think that saving the wizarding world would bring me some special treatment."

"Oh please," Ginny scoffed, "that's old news. The only thing anyone cares about right now is what teams will make it to the Quittich finals next year."

"Uh huh, sure," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "That explains the dozens of reporters camped outside the wall of privacy spells." He grinned at her and grabbed her hand once more, leading her toward their favorite spot. As they settled onto the blanket Harry conjured, He asked, "So your birthday's coming up soon too…any hints on what you might want?" She shook her head with a sly grin on her face. "Aw, please Gin? You know I'm hopeless at things like this."

She laughed as she said, "I know. And I'm curious to see how well you do. Don't worry, I won't disown you if you screw it up."

"Gee, thanks," Harry muttered.

"What did you get Harry for his birthday?" Hermione asked Ron as they made their way up to Ron's room.

He smacked his forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something," he muttered, then looked sideways at Hermione. "Want to go in together?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No way!" Hermione exclaimed with a smirk on her face. "I worked really hard to figure something out, and you aren't getting off that easy!"

Ron opened his door for Hermione with a pout on his face that she ignored as she walked passed him into his room. They both settled down on the floor with their backs against his bed. Hermione grabbed Ron's fingers and played with them as she spoke, "Hogwarts is going to be weird without you. And it will be _really_ weird if both you _and_ Harry don't go." She sighed. "Who's going to get me in trouble without you two there?"

"If you haven't noticed, Ginny is more like the twins than I am. I'm sure she'll find some way to make your seventh year more interesting," Ron said with smile. But his smile faded when he saw how dejected Hermione was looking. "Aw, come on Hermione, don't look like that." He flipped over the hand she was holding and pulled her towards him until she was sitting between his legs with her back against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head and spoke, "It won't be that bad…I'll be sure to write once a week."

"You had better make that twice a week, Weasley." She looked at the ground, her face turning pink. "I'm going to miss you," she said, barely above a whisper.

Ron's ears turned red as he answered, "I'll miss you too. A lot." He cleared his throat. "But there will be Hogsmeade weekends and Quittich games, right? It's not like we're only going to see each other during holidays, right? And Harry might still be going, so that's a plus, yeah?"

"I suppose so. But I just can't see Harry going back there after everything that happened. Hogwarts isn't the same for him without Dumbledore there, and all the bad memories…" She sighed again.

Ron still didn't look convinced. "You don't think that even if Ginny's there-"

"Even if I'm where?" Harry and Ginny had chosen this moment to come into the room. They settled down on the floor opposite the other two. Harry looked a little embarrassed to find his friends in the position they were in.

"Hermione and I were just discussing whether Harry will go back or not. She thinks Hogwarts won't be worthwhile without us there."

"Gee thanks," Ginny replied dryly to Hermione.

"That's not what I said!" she exclaimed, frowning at Ron. "I just said that it wouldn't be the same without them."

"Yeah, but it would be a lot less stressful," Harry said with a grin. Hermione didn't argue, but gave him a reluctant smile.

Many floors below, Mrs. Weasley was angrily chopping carrots while preparing lunch. She was more sad than angry, but anger was an easier feeling to show. She still couldn't believe that her youngest son was planning on leaving her to find his own place. Soon enough, Harry would be doing the same thing and then Ginny would soon follow. It was all just happening so fast. She began chopping the carrots more violently than ever and banished the pieces into the bowl across the kitchen. Molly knew that she could have just used magic to get lunch done, but her hands really needed to be doing something. She finished with the carrots and summoned her potato peeler towards her. She peeled the potatoes just as violently as the carrots until a hand grabbed her wrist and stilled her movements. Molly turned around to tell the person off when she was met with the look of gentle concern on Arthur's face. All of her anger melted away and she leaned into his embrace with a deep sigh. "All our babies have grown up, Arthur. What are we going to do when they're all gone?"

He rubbed comforting circles on her back and answered, "Well, it will be hard at first, but they won't be away long. Soon enough all of them will have children of their own, and who do you think they're going to come to for help?"

Molly smiled at the thought of helping with her unborn grandchildren, then grimaced at what that meant. "Oh, Arthur. We're getting so _old_."

He chuckled in her ear. "You don't look a day over thirty-one, Mollywobbles."

"Well you look exactly your age, Mr. Weasley," she retorted angrily. He only laughed at her answer and she eventually gave him a small smile in apology, which he returned with a kiss on her forehead.

"So are you two going to find a place, er, _together_?" Harry asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Nah, I was all for it but Hermione's really traditional about that kind of stuff, as I'm sure you can imagine…" Harry smiled and nodded. Mrs. Weasley had called Ginny and Hermione to help with setting the table for lunch and Harry was taking advantage of their absence.

"So, what was the _real_ reason you two didn't write?" Harry asked.

"We really were busy!" Ron said earnestly.

"What, with each other?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"No!" Ron said indignantly while his chin jutted out in a stubborn way. Harry didn't say anything but just raised his eyebrow even higher. Ron broke under his stare and gave up. "Yeah, all right. We were, erm, getting to know each other better." He played with the frayed end of his shoelace, avoiding Harry's gaze.

Harry just snorted. "Oh, is that what you call it? _Getting to know each other_? Yeah, Ginny and I did a little of that too." Harry laughed as he ducked Ron's punch. "We got to know each other _really_ well." This time, Harry didn't move fast enough as Ron's fist landed on the lower left side of his jaw. It wasn't hard enough to do any damage, but it was enough to provoke Harry. Harry launched himself at Ron and before they knew it they were in a head-on wrestling match that didn't end until Arthur came into the room to announce that lunch was ready. He found them with Ron holding Harry in a headlock while Harry was repeatedly elbowing Ron in the ribs. Both boys were breathless with laughter. Arthur rolled his eyes with the knowledge of raising six boys and beckoned them out of the room. Both of them jumped up at the thought of food and raced each other down the stairs, trying to trip each other the whole way.

Later that night, while Ginny and Hermione were lying in bed, neither could sleep.

"Hogwarts was awful without you three last year, you know." Ginny said barely above a whisper. "I was always worries sick wondering if my brother, best friend, and boyfriend were still alive or not."

Hermione closed her eyes, going breathless thinking about how hard it must have been for Ginny to get left behind. "I'm so sorry, Ginny. That must have been horrible. But you know why you couldn't come, right?" Hermione propped herself up on her elbow to get a better look at Ginny.

"No." Ginny answered flatly. She lay with her arms crossed, staring at the ceiling, and Hermione could tell that she was still angry about it.

Hermione sighed deeply and said, "With you there, Harry wouldn't have been able to concentrate on the task at hand. He would have been going mad trying to keep you out of danger in every way." Hermione held up her hand when Ginny angrily opened her mouth to say something. "I know that you can take care of yourself, and goodness me, Harry knows that too. But that's just the way Harry is; you know that. If something had happened to you he would never forgive himself."

"I was in just as much danger at Hogwarts," Ginny replied sharply.

"I know that," Hermione said softly, "and Harry still worried about you every day. He doesn't think I know this, but he would lay awake at night just staring at that silly map of his making sure you were okay."

"That only showed that I was okay physically," Ginny muttered.

"Gin, none of us were okay mentally last year. We're _still_ not okay. I know you're mad at him, but he had his reasons for leaving you here. You need to talk to him about it, Ginny. You can't hide your anger from him for the rest of your life, it's not healthy in a relationship." Hermione knew she was treading on tender ground, so she spoke as softly as possible. "It's only going to get worse if you don't talk to him about it."

To Hermione's surprise, Ginny let out a huge breath and said, "I know. I just don't want to fight with him. I just got him back, and I can't seem to get mad at him when I'm with him, and then I just end up madder at myself for not talking to him about it… UGH it's so frustrating!" Ginny pulled out her pillow from under her head and held it against her face.

Hermione got out of her bed and came over to sit on the edge of Ginny's. She pulled the pillow away from Ginny's face and stroked her hair. "It's okay Ginny. You're allowed to be mad at him. You _deserve_ to be mad at him. But let him tell his side as well, okay? He's not going to leave you because of one potential fight, Gin. You know that; he cares about you too much. You just need to let it all out, okay? Look at me and Ron," she said with a laugh. "We let it all out everyday, and we're going stronger than ever!"

"Ugh, it's still a little too soon for me to think about you and my brother together," Ginny said with a half grimace half smirk.

Hermione answered Ginny by stuffing the pillow back into her face and crawling back into her cot. "Just remember to keep your cool when you're talking to him. Both of your tempers can get quite nasty." Ginny stuck her tongue out at Hermione and turned over so she was facing the wall. "Oh, and Ginny one last thing." Ginny turned back around to glare at Hermione. "No bat-bogey hexes, yeah?"

Ginny just rolled her eyes and lay down, trying not to think of tomorrow's confrontation.


	8. Confrontations

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I've gone this long without updating! Senior year is so hectic! This chapter is just to show that yes, I am still working on this story, and no, I have not forgotten about it. Enjoy!

Ginny didn't sleep well that night. She played tomorrow's conversation in her head in about a million different ways. In some, they both talked it out in a civil manner and then lived happily ever after…but most of them didn't end so well. One of them started out with her losing her head and yelling and ended with him flying off angrily on his broom and then crashing in a fatal accident.

Even though she knew that wasn't going to happen, she couldn't help the way her imagination ran out of control. Bad ending after bad ending went through her mind until she couldn't take it anymore. But just as she was about to go to the kitchen for some hot chocolate, she heard footsteps coming towards her door. She lay still with her eyes half-opened and waited for the person to come inside, curious of whom it might be. For some reason, when the door creaked open and she saw it was Harry, she didn't greet him, but continued to feign sleep. She assumed that he had come in to talk to her, so she waited for him to shake her awake, but he surprised her by only smoothing the hair back from her face, kissing her forehead, and walking right back out.

Once he was gone, she pulled her pillow on top of her face and groaned. What the heck was that? How often did he come into her room at night? Even more, how was she supposed to be angry with him now?

The next morning found Ginny sitting at the kitchen table looking more or less like a troll doll, but when Harry walked in and saw her, nice guy that he is, he merely kissed her on the head and then turned around before she could see his smile. Her brothers, however, were not so kind.

"Whoa, Gin, did you get caught in a blender this morning?" said George with a wink. "I've never seen someone's hair do that before…It's almost as if it were magic!"

Ron simply started laughing when he saw her. Thankfully, Harry saw her reaching for her wand just in time and was able to catch her wrist before she got herself in trouble for using magic. Ginny yanked her hand away and refused to look him in the eye. Harry eyed her warily and looked to Hermione, who had arrived just in time to see this scene, with questions in his eyes. Hermione didn't look at him either, but instead headed towards the stove for the teapot.

Ginny rose from the table and headed for the door. "Harry," she said quietly, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

The room went quiet and everyone looked at Harry, who had turned a pit pale. "Sure Ginny," he said as he stood up from the table. He followed her to the garden without speaking. He could see that she was deep in thought, and he knew better than to interrupt her. Harry waited patiently for her to say something, all the while trying to catch her eye. On the other hand, Ginny was desperately trying not to look at those eyes because she knew – one look and it was all over. She took a deep breath and began.

"Harry I – I need to talk to you about my feelings." Harry's eyes immediately grew wider and a sweat broke out on his forehead. Seeing his expression, Ginny quickly corrected herself: "No! Not those kinds of feelings. I meant to say…how I felt about you leaving me behind."

This didn't sound much better to Harry, but he kept silent and let her go on, giving her a nod in encouragement.

She took a deep breath and began. "When the three of you left I felt so unimportant and left out. I know that's silly, but it was as if you didn't need me…it made me feel like a child."

"Ginny, you know why I couldn't take you with me. It was only for your prote-"

"I DON'T NEED PROTECTION!" It was that word. That one word that set her off. All of her life, she had been sheltered from this or kept away from that, all for her protection. "I've had ENOUGH of people trying to shield me away from things just because they don't think I'm capable enough, or good enough, or strong enough to face it. I'm NOT a little girl, and I don't need people to protect me! And YOU of all people should know how I feel! Think, Harry, how did you feel every time a guard was sent to travel with you, or when no one would give you the information that you wanted because you were 'too young'?"

Harry looked down at his shoes, ashamed, for he knew exactly what she was talking about. "Small," he said quietly. Then, shaking his head as if clearing it he said, "But that was different, Ginny, I was putting those people in danger by letting them protect me. I needed you to be here."

"Why?" Ginny yelled. "Do you not think I'm capable of taking care of myself?"

Harry cautiously walked up to Ginny and tried to meet her gaze. When she refused, he cupped his hand under her chin and lifted it up he could see her eyes. "No, Ginny. It's because _I_ wasn't strong enough."

"What?" she said flatly, still refusing to fall under the influence of his eyes.

"I wasn't strong enough to put you into danger like that. Gin, I _know_ how brave you are, and I _know_ that you would have done everything you could to help us out there, no matter how much it hurt you. And that's the problem, Ginny. If you had gotten hurt, out there, I wouldn't have been able to move on. I would have stopped looking for horcruxes to make sure that you were okay and safe."

This did not bode well with Ginny. "Oh, so I would have been a burden, huh? I would have slowed you down?" The color of Ginny's face rivaled that of a ripe tomato.

Frustrated, Harry grabbed his hair and exclaimed, "NO, Ginny you don't get it! I love you! I. LOVE. YOU. It was for my own selfish reasons that I didn't want you to come with me! That's right, I was being selfish! I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing you again, or never holding you again! I knew that there was no way I could stop Ron and Hermione from going, but I knew I could stop you. I had no idea what we were going to face out there, and if I had the chance to protect you from it, then I sure as hell was going to do it! It was immature and selfish and wrong, but I don't regret leaving you. I'm sorry, Ginny. I'm just…sorry."

His eyes were distant, and Ginny knew he was remembering those horrible things that they had endured. Suddenly, as if he wasn't even thinking about it, his arms circled around her and he held her close to him, burying his face in her hair. "I'm so glad you didn't have to live what we went through, Ginny. I know that it was horrible here too, but I wouldn't wish our experience on anyone."

Even though she was still a bit put off with him, she held him back, grateful that he was in her arms. "I love you too," she murmured into his shoulder, "but you can't leave me behind anymore. I have my own selfish reasons to worry about."

He let out a shaky sigh and said, "I don't think I can do that."

"Well, you're going to have to try, because I'm coming whether you like it or not." She said this with such finality that Harry had to give a small smile. He gently released her and tilted her chin up for a kiss. It was soft and sweet, and lasted only a moment.

"Well," he said, "we'll decide that when the opportunity presents itself, and hopefully that will be never again."

"Deal." She agreed. Then, as she started to lead him back towards the house she gave him a cheeky grin and said, "By the way, Hermione told me about your dates with the marauder's map."

"Ugh! Nothing gets passed that girl, I swear!" Harry's face was a mixture of admiration and horror.

"Yeah, to be honest, if I wasn't so flattered I would be really creeped out. I mean, really, how bored _were_ you?" she asked with a laugh.

"Not bored, just very concerned."

"Yeah, well, I still think it's creepy," she muttered.

"You think that's creepy, just wait 'til you hear everything I saw you doing!"

Harry was still laughing at her horrified expression as they walked into the house.

Okay, that was way too short for my liking, but I wanted to get a new chapter up really badly! I promise the next one will be longer, and way less cheesy! (cause this has enough cheese to last a lifetime) hope you liked it! Let me know what you think


	9. Avoiding and Buying

Just a few days later, that's pretty good for me, right? I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's longer, I swear ;)

"Hermione, please, just help me pick something out! I'm hopeless at this stuff!"

"No, Harry, it won't mean anything if I pick it out for you."

"Yeah, which is exactly why we tell her that I picked it out, and I pay you a little extra…"

"Not a chance Harry. Boy you sure are a wimp - we haven't even started looking yet!"

Harry let out a loud sigh. He was truly at a loss of what to get Ginny for her birthday. He had brought Hermione with him in the hopes of her giving him advice, but he could see that was a mistake now. That morning he woke up extra early to get out of the house before Ginny woke up and asked to tag along, ruining his chance of finding a gift today. He felt his pocket to make sure the moneybag was still there and then began walking down Diagon Alley. He touched Hermione's arm to show that he was walking because he was wearing the invisibility cloak. He really wasn't in the mood to be stalked by reporters. Even though he was covered up, people had been coming up to Hermione, recognizing her, thanking her, even asking for her autograph. She seemed a bit pleased, but it was making Hermione flustered and antsy to go through it alone.

"Harry, I really wish you would just take the cloak off; you'll have to eventually you know."

"Yeah, I know, but I'll wait until I have the cover of a crowded store." Hermione rolled her eyes at this but continued on after him. They window-shopped for a while, but Harry just didn't see anything that stood out to him. His birthday was only two days away, but he was more focused on finding Ginny the perfect gift. Now that he finally had a true chance to be with her, he didn't want to mess it up.

"Harry, please don't stress about it too much, she already told you that she won't disown you if you screw it up. Ginny would love anything you got for her!" Hermione was growing tired of walking down the street, seemingly by herself. She couldn't wait until they stopped by the joke shop later to visit Ron and George. Ron had only been working in the shop for a week, and it had taken a huge chunk of his time. He was stressed out often, worrying about living up to George's standards and making Fred proud. Hermione told him every day how well she thought he was doing, but she had a feeling that George was still getting used to his new business partner and that maybe he was giving Ron a hard time. Suddenly she had an idea, "Hey Harry, maybe Ginny would like something from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? She always loves a good laugh!" Hermione looked towards where she thought he was with a hopeful smile.

"Nah, I want to get her a serious gift, not a joke. Besides you're only helping me now cause you want to see Ron."

Turning red with embarrassment and frustration, Hermione kept her mouth shut for the next few minutes. Finally, she heard Harry call, "Hermione, in here." And walked towards the store that Harry was calling her from. It was a big store that looked like they sold everything, and there were a lot of people in it, but if he was willing to go in, then she wasn't going to try and stop him.

Harry walked trough the door and pulled the cloak off, instantly regretting it. Every head began to turn his way, recognizing him instantly. Cameras from who-knew-where began flashing at him, and people began rushing towards him and calling his name. Angry, he grabbed Hermione's hand and rushed out of the store, turning on the spot. They reappeared in muggle London and he quickly found a bench to sit down on. He stuffed his cloak into his pocket and let out a frustrated gust of air.

"When is this going to stop? I'm not that interesting!"

This was so humorous to Hermione that she let out a giggle that turned into a sigh when she saw the look he was giving her. "Oh Harry, don't you see? It's not going to stop until you give them what they want. Like I said, you'll have to face them eventually. They all want their little piece of the 'Chosen One'. Maybe once you allow yourself to be thanked and praised it will all blow over, but by staying incognito and hiding away you're making yourself even more of a desirable mystery."

"I know, I know. But not today, Hermione. I just want to find Ginny a present." Harry looked weary and ready to give up.

Hermione looked around at where they were. "Hey Harry, maybe you can find something in Muggle London that she'd like; there are tons of cools stores around here."

Harry brightened up at this idea. "Hey yeah! And no one gives rat's ass who I am! Lets go." They walked passed a few stores until he saw one that looked promising. It was a jewelry store that looked pretty expensive, but Harry didn't care. When they walked in, the manager looked over at them and then turned back to the customer he was helping. Apparently they didn't look promising enough. Hermione and Harry browsed a little bit until the man was finished making a sale and then walked over to them.

"Hello Sir and Miss, may I help you with anything?" He said this with a distant attitude as if he had better things to do.

"Er, well, I'm looking for something for my girlfriend…and I'm not quite sure what that something is, " Harry said unsurely.

"Of course you're not," said the snobby salesman. "Perhaps she would like something over here." He pointed them towards a selection of what looked like the cheapest jewelry in the store. Harry walked over to them and after glancing at them once, shook his head.

"No, none of these look right." He scanned the store and his eyes fell on a glass case of glittering necklaces. As he was making his way toward them, Hermione stopped him with an exclamation.

"Oooh, Harry, look at these! Aren't they pretty?" Harry made his way over to where she was standing and looked down at what appeared to be engagement rings.

"They're lovely, Hermione, but I think it's a little too soon for one of those." He gave her a wink and then made his way back over towards the necklaces. When he was close enough to make out the shapes of the necklaces, one immediately caught his eye. He leaned in to get a closer look at the glittering necklace and called for Hermione to join him. Reluctantly, the salesman walked over to the display of necklaces to see what they were looking at.

"Can I see that one?" Harry asked him.

"Really?" he asked. "This one? It's very valuable…but if you insist."

He gently lifted the fragile necklace out of the case and held it close to Harry so he could get a good look at it. As soon as he saw it clearly, he knew it was the right one for Ginny, and the smile that Hermione was giving him told him she approved as well. It was in the shape of a tiny phoenix, and it was made with what looked like hundreds of tiny rubies, making it look alight with fire. What a muggle jewelry store was doing with this kind of necklace, he didn't know, but he was extremely glad that he came in. As soon as he decided he would get it, no matter the cost, he realized he had a problem. He pulled Hermione to the side as the rude salesman rolled his eyes and put the necklace back.

"Hermione, I haven't got any muggle money with me, how am I going to pay for it?"

"Well, I suppose you'll have to go back to Gringotts and do an exchange, won't you?"

Harry cringed at the thought of leaving the necklace for someone else to buy while he went and got muggle money in a bank full of wizards. He looked at Hermione with a pleading look that she returned with an exasperated one.

"You're going to make me go get the money, aren't you?"

"I want to stay here and make sure no one else gets it. Please Hermione, for me?"

She let out a sigh and said, "I'll do it for Ginny, because I know she's going to absolutely love this necklace, but no more favors today! And we have to go directly to the joke shop afterwards!"

"Yes ma'am!" He said with a laugh and a twinkle in his eye. He handed her his large bag of galleons and pushed her out of the store, leaving himself with the suspicious salesman breathing down his neck. Just for something to say, Harry asked him how much the phoenix necklace was.

The salesman smirked and told him the amount, obviously thinking that a teen like Harry could never afford it. What he didn't know, however, was just how much money was hidden in the depths of a certain bank.

After thirty minutes of waiting, Harry began to get nervous about where Hermione was. But then, as soon as the salesman was about to kick Harry out of the store, Hermione rushed in panting with a red face. Harry went over to her and she apologized in a hushed voice, "sorry, goblins were giving me a hard time."

"No big deal," said Harry with a smile, and then he went back to the necklace and declared, "I'd like to buy the phoenix please."

The salesman stared at him with disbelief, but nonetheless took the beautiful necklace out once more and once again stated the amount. Harry fished the bills out of his pocket and handed them to him. "I'd like to have that gift wrapped, please," Harry told him. The salesman starred at him, astonished, but then pulled himself together and took the money greedily saying, "right away sir!"

Ten minutes later, Harry had the necklace tucked safely in his pocket and the two of them disapparated directly in front of the joke shop so they could slip in quickly.

Two days later, all the people closest to Harry, including the Weasleys (except for Charlie, who was in Romania, and Bill and Fleur, who were celebrating their one-year anniversary in Paris), Hagrid, Neville, Luna, Andromeda with Teddy, and Kingsly were gathered around the table outside to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. It was so weird for Harry to think that only one year ago he wasn't even close to defeating Voldemort. It was truly a celebration for all of them as they feasted on some of Harry's favorite dishes, including treacle tart. After they were all leaning back in their chairs stuffed full of delicious food, Molly exclaimed, "presents!" and went into the house to retrieve two boxes. The first was rather small, and this was the one he reached for first.

"That one's from me," Hermione said as he reached for the parcel. "It's not much, Harry, but I felt it was time." He unwrapped the gift and into his palm fell a pair of new glasses. The frames were rectangular and thin. He gave Hermione a look full of humor as he removed his old pair and put the new ones on. He had to admit, as the glasses settled onto his nose, that these felt much, much better than his other ones. He looked at Hermione to show her what they looked like and she sighed with contentment.

"Yes, those are much better," she said. "Your other ones were getting ridiculous. Your face has grown so much, and how many times have you broken those other pair? I put a protection charm on them, as well as a cushioning charm for comfort…"

"They're brilliant, Hermione, thanks. You're right, I did need some." He looked over at Ginny and she smiled and nodded in approval. After Harry turned back away from her, she looked over at Hermione and gave her the thumbs-up signal while mouthing, "thank you!"

The other package was a familiar looking long one. Harry recognized it at once as a broomstick, and was touched that the family would buy him a new one; he knew how expensive brooms were. Thinking it might be a new Nimbus 2000, or even a 2001 he opened it with excitement, but instead a brand new Firebolt rolled onto the table and hovered there, pristine and gleaming, just waiting for its new owner to take it for a spin.

Harry gaped at it in amazement, and for a while he was at a loss for words. "You…you didn't…who…?"

Understanding what he was trying to say, Mr. Weasley stepped in: "We all did, Harry, every person at this table pitched in to get it for you, and it was our pleasure."

"You didn't have to…thank you so much!" He walked over to Mr. Weasley and shook his hand, and then gave Mrs. Weasley a big hug. He made his way around the table hugging some and shaking hands with others. Harry couldn't believe it; he never thought he would hold a Firebolt in his hands again. "You don't know how much this means to me…"

"Yeah we do mate, and it's just one way that we'd like to say thanks," Neville spoke quietly and gave Harry a small smile.

"But you all helped – I wouldn't have made it without you all!" Harry didn't feel comfortable on this subject, especially since he still felt responsible for all the bad that had happened.

"Yeah, we did all help – a lot – but you gave us hope, and without that hope we wouldn't have won, Harry." Neville was so sincere when he spoke this, that Harry had no doubt that it was true. He felt so blessed to have so many loved ones surrounding him that he was speechless. All he could do was stare around at them all with a smile on his face.

After everyone dispersed from the table, Harry and Ginny went on a walk. They didn't speak much, for they were both a bit drowsy from eating so much.

"I still haven't given you your present," Ginny said to him as they settled down on a blanket he conjured on their favorite spot.

"Gin, wasn't the Firebolt enough? I don't think I can handle any more gifts…" Harry brushed a loose piece of hair from her eyes and gave her a smile.

"Oh, just take the present," Ginny laughed as she handed over a messily wrapped square.

"Nice," he commented on her gift-wrapping skills, earning him a swat to his shoulder. He laughed and continued opening the present. When he pulled off the last piece of paper, he saw that it was a picture of Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Himself at Bill and Fleur's wedding one year ago. They were all smiling, even though it was obvious they had been forced to take the picture. Every once in a while, the Harry in the picture would sneak a look at the pretty redhead by his side.

"We all look so innocent, don't we? It seems like so long ago that this was taken; it's hard to imagine that it's only been one year." Ginny looked at the picture with aged eyes and only looked up when Harry gently lifted her face to his with his hand. He kissed her once on the forehead, once on the tip of her nose, and then lingered on her lips for one gentle kiss.

"I love the picture, Gin. It's amazing thank you."

She searched his face and then gave him a seductive smile saying, "I really like those glasses, you know."

Harry grinned and said, "Oh you do? Well," he leaned foreword to whisper something in her ear, "I have an idea of what we can do to make this birthday even more memorable than the last."

These words sent shivers up and down Ginny's spine and she whispered back in a shaky voice, "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well, I just happen to know a very lonely broomstick that is just waiting for someone to ride it—"

"Race ya!" Ginny yelled as she jumped up and sprinted towards The Burrow. Laughing, Harry followed closely behind, happier than he had been in a long time.

Okay, I put a little more cheese than I wanted in this one, and I'm sorry, but I just had to. I'm not sure if I'm going to put Ginny's birthday in the next chapter or not because two birthdays in a row seems like a little much, but I'll see. PLEASE REVIEW! I love hearing what you guys think! I'll try and update asap! Thanks for reading


	10. Anticipation and Domination

Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for reading. And remember, reviews are the best kind of motivation ;)

"Gin! Ginny, wake up! Time for breakfast!"

"Go. Away." Ginny was not someone that you should wake up, and everyone knew it. She didn't know why this annoying voice was braving her wrath today.

"Come on Gin! You need to wake up!"

"Harry, get out of here," she mumbled angrily. She didn't care if she loved him or if she was being rude. She was up late last night talking to Hermione and wanted to sleep in. She looked over at Hermione's cot and wasn't surprised to see that it was empty and neatly made. Hermione always got up early.

"But Ginny, you have to get up!"

Ginny, who had had enough, quickly sat up and started shouting, "LET ME SLEEP HARRY! So help me, if I was of age I would take my wand and…" But then she saw the sly grin on his face, and it registered in her mind what day it was. "And do this!" She grabbed her wand so fast that he didn't have time to block it. She said the first spell that came to her – which lucky for Harry was only the jelly legs jinx – and in a quick flash of light he was grabbing her bed post in order to keep from collapsing on the floor. Ginny gave a shout of triumphant laughter and then shot Harry a superior look.

"Should have seen that coming…" Harry grumbled to himself, and then said to Ginny, "I would have blocked that if it wasn't your birthday."

"Sure, Potter, whatever you say." And then, because she was suddenly in a better mood, released him from the jinx and gave him a hug. She always loved seeing what Harry looked like in the morning; his hair was always a little messier than usual and it was the time of day when he was the most relaxed. Harry leaned in for a kiss, but she pulled away from him.

"Ew, gross, morning breath!" she exclaimed and then rushed out of the room towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. Harry chuckled and slowly followed her, leaning against the doorframe while he watched her. She ignored him while she furiously brushed every tooth and then spit the foam out of her mouth. She wiped her face on a towel and then walked towards him with a smile.

Harry made a face and said, "yeah, cause _that's_ what I want to see right before I kiss you." He smiled gently at her to show he was joking and wrapped his arms around her waist. She rolled her eyes but gave him a smile of her own, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. "Good morning," he said and kissed her slowly.

"Oh bloody…Can't I enter a room without finding a couple of teenagers tongue wrestling anymore?"

"Sorry, George," Harry said as he grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her quickly from the room. They were both laughing as they walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Happy Birthday!" A chorus of voiced greeted her as they walked through the door. She beamed at everyone that was sitting around the table. She found her place and helped herself to her favorite chocolate-chip pancakes that her mother had made for her, ignoring Ron's whining about waiting all day to eat.

"Do you want your presents now, or later?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Now!" she laughed. That was a silly question.

"Mine first!" said Hermione. "I hope you like it."

Ginny reached for the gift as George walked in still mumbling about affectionate teenagers. She ignored him and took the beautifully wrapped box from Hermione's hands. She was surprised by the weight of it; it was much too light to be a book.

"What, no novel this year?" Ginny asked her friend, who only answered by sticking out her tongue and motioning for her to unwrap the gift as she took the chair next to Ron's. Ginny, who had no patience for saving paper, tore off the wrapping and took the lid off the box. She reached in and lifted out a simple but cute black dress. It was strapless and short with a sweetheart neckline.

"Wow, Hermione, thank you! Muggle dresses look so much better than dress robes… but I'm pretty sure I don't have anywhere to wear it."

"I have a feeling you'll be needing it in the near future." Hermione said while giving Harry a wink.

Ginny caught on. "What? Where are we going?"

Harry let out a breath of exasperation and turned to glare at Hermione. "Nowhere," he told Ginny, "you'll find out soon."

Excited, Ginny turned to her other gifts. From Ron and George she received a big box of joke supplies and from her parents a smaller version of the watch Ron wore. She gave everyone a hug and then jokingly raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"Later," he laughed, "just be patient."

"Bill and Fleur will be over for lunch," Mr. Weasley said to Ginny. "We're celebrating your birthday then because – well, we just are." He was getting wide-eyed looks of warning from Molly and Harry and decided it was time for him to shut up.

The mystery was killing Ginny, but she didn't ask any more questions. She thanked her mother for the lovely breakfast and went upstairs to change. She came back downstairs ten minutes later and found the living room empty, but then heard a grunt followed by a shout of triumph coming from the garden. She went outside where Ron and Harry were de-gnoming the garden by seeing who could throw their garden gnomes farthest. Hermione, who was clever enough to use her wand for the task, used the banishing charm instead, which was more effective and came with less of a biting hazard. Ginny celebrated her age by joining Hermione and soon the chore was done. Mr. Weasley came out of the house and conjured two picnic tables followed by two white tablecloths to go on top. It was a warm, pretty summers day, and Ginny could only think of one thing that would make the day better. One look over at Harry and she could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Quidditch match in five!" she yelled and ran to get her broom from the shed. Harry, Ron, and George quickly followed, Hermione more hesitant. They walked to the field that was just over the hill and mounted their brooms. Hermione settled herself on the ground and promised to keep score.

"The teams are even without me anyways," she said to them. They didn't argue and soon the game began, George and Ginny against Harry and Ron. The only ball they could use was the quaffle, so Ginny, being the only trained chaser, scored most of the points for her team. After two hours of ruthless playing, it was a close game, but Ginny and George won.

"If it wasn't your birthday I wouldn't have let you win," Harry said to Ginny with a wink.

"When are you going to stop using that excuse Potter?" Ginny retorted. "It's getting old."

He smiled at her and put his arm around her waist, kissing her temple and leading her towards the picnic tables in the garden. Lunch was delicious and the afternoon was spent lounging around the living room, all of them talking. At five-thirty, Harry told Ginny that she better go get ready, or they would be late.

"For WHAT?" she answered, bewildered.

"For your birthday present," He answered in a tone that clearly said 'what else?'.

Excited, she jumped up from the couch and ran to her room, followed closely by Hermione.

"Where is he taking me?" she asked Hermione for the hundredth time.

"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you!" Hermione retorted as she laughed, "He would kill me. Besides, you'll know in less than an hour. Just put on your dress, I can't wait to see what you look like!"

Ginny pulled off her jeans and t-shirt and slipped the silky dress over her head. It gently settled around her and fell into place perfectly. She turned around to look in the mirror and show Hermione.

Hermione sighed with contentment and said, "yes, it looks great on you, He's going to love it! Go on then, have a look!"

Ginny turned to look in the mirror, and she had to admit to herself that she looked pretty good. The dress hugged her tiny waist and then flared out until it was right above her knees. Then she realized that she didn't have any shoes to wear with it and turned to look at Hermione. "Um, Hermione?" She raised her bare foot to show that they were bare.

"Oh! Um, let me look…" She rummaged in her trunk for a moment and pulled out a pair of black pumps. "Here! These should fit. I just hope they're comfortable enough for…well, I hope they're comfortable."

Ginny slipped her feet into the shoes, and they fit pretty well. Thankfully, Ginny and Hermione wore the same size.

"Thanks Hermione, I better go downstairs." She hugged her friend and they walked out of the room. Harry was waiting for her in the kitchen, along with the rest of the family, and when she walked in his smile was brighter than the sparks from any wand.

"Ready to go?" he asked. She smiled and nodded, suddenly shy and fully aware that everyone was watching her. Harry took Ginny's hand and led her out the door. He put her hand at the crook of his elbow and looked down into her warm brown eyes. "Hold tight," he whispered. He turned, and they were gone.

Posting next chapter shortly! Review please!


	11. Birthday Gifts

Here we go! This chapter's short, but since I'm uploading it just a few minutes after chapter ten I think its okay. Plus, I think you might find it satisfactory, or at least I hope! I own nothing! Enjoy

When Ginny opened her eyes they were standing in some kind of alleyway, but she could hear the sound of busy streets and crowds of people nearby. Harry led her around the corner and she was affronted with the bright lights of London. He wrapped his arm around her waist so he could keep her close to his side and steered her into a restaurant named "Le Caprice". She was astonished at how elegant the place seemed and started to feel apprehensive. It was then that she noticed how nice Harry looked; he was wearing a simple black muggle suit and tie, but he looked extremely handsome. And, of course, his tie was green, making his eyes stand out more than ever.

"I hope this is okay," Harry said nervously. "I was going to take you to Paris, but your parents made me promise I would keep you in this country."

Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement. But then she squeezed his hand softly and said, "Harry, this place is beautiful."

Harry smiled gently down at Ginny and walked up to the maitre d and asked about their reservations. Once they were seated at their table Ginny began to relax. She and Harry talked and laughed, and when it came time to order she let him order for her. If anyone else had done that she would have found it demeaning, but with him, although she would never admit it out loud, she found it kind of sexy. They split a piece of delicious chocolate cake for desert and then, to her surprise, Harry pulled back her chair and led her out to the dance floor. There was a small jazz band playing on a little stage. The dance floor wasn't big, but there were only a few couples dancing, so it wasn't cramped.

Harry stood in front of her and held his hand out expectantly. Ginny giggled and took it, and he held her closer than the music suggested they should.

"When did you become so smooth?" She joked softly into his ear as they slowly revolved. He laughed and slid his hand to the small of her back, pressing her even closer.

"You would take that back if you saw me dance any other way."

"Yeah, you're right," said Ginny, "I saw you at the Yule Ball…you aren't very good." She squeezed the hand she was holding to show she was joking. After about a half hour of dancing, they left the restaurant and once again set food on the busy streets of London.

"This way," Harry said as he led her once again into the alley. She quickly took hold of his elbow and Harry turned sharply. When the nauseating sensation stopped, a gentle, salty breeze was playing with her hair and the ground beneath her gave way when she stepped on it. She opened her eyes in surprise and saw that they weren't at The Burrow, as she expected, but on an abandoned beach. The full moon shone in the cloudless sky and reflected in the peaceful ocean. The gentle waves kissed the soft white sand over and over again; she had never seen the ocean, and the beauty of it took her breath away.

Harry smiled at the expression on her face. "You didn't expect our date to be over THAT quickly, did you?"

They abandoned their shoes in a pile on the sand and began walking towards the appealing ocean. Harry rolled up his pant legs and they slowly allowed the waves to roll over their feet. Ginny gasped at how surprisingly cold the water was as it touched her feet and then retreated over and over again. They began walking along the shoreline and eventually came to an old dock.

Harry climbed up and pulled Ginny along with him. They walked to the end and sat down, dangling their feet over the edge so they were once again touching the water.

They were quiet for a while, just taking in the beauty of the scenery around them. Then Harry said, "So, I've decided to go to Hogwarts in September. I think that's the best decision. I know that it will be a bit overwhelming, but things will calm down eventually, and I don't have much choice if I still want to become an auror," he said, glancing down at her. "Plus, I'm sure the combination of a cozy common room and the eerie lack of Weasley brothers will come to our advantage eventually."

Ginny's smile was so big she thought her cheeks would fall off. "Harry, that's wonderful!" She leaned her head against his shoulder and thought about how she wasn't going to be able to concentrate with Harry sitting next to her in every class.

"I suppose you'll be wanting your gift now?" Harry asked coyly as he stood up and backed away from the edge of the dock. He held out a hand to help her up and then began to reach into his inner jacket pocket.

"Isn't this the gift?" Ginny asked, gesturing around her, confused. "What more could you possibly give me?"

"No, this is just the entertainment, Gin. This," he said, handing her a square velvet jewelry box, "is your gift."

Curious, she slowly opened the box to find the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. The detail of the phoenix and the intricate rubies was astonishing.

"Oh, Harry," she breathed. "You really shouldn't have!"

He didn't say anything, but he took the box from her hands and slid the phoenix around her slender neck, latching it in the back. He then cupped her chin with one hand and swept her hair back with the other, looking deeply into her eyes. Harry licked his lips as if he were suddenly nervous and whispered, "I love you," in a low, husky voice.

"I love you, too," Ginny whispered, just as softly. She leaned towards him until their lips touched and slowly snaked her arms around his neck. One of his hands still cupped the right side of her face, but the other wound itself around her waist and pulled her as close to him as possible. Harry's heart pounded in his chest as the kiss took a fiery turn. Ginny grabbed handfuls of his messy hair and he lifted her up so her legs could wrap around his waist. Their lips moved in synchronization as if they would never stop, and Harry let out a low moan as Ginny caught his lower lip between her teeth. Harry knew he needed to slow it down before it went to far, so he softly pulled away and she slid back down onto the dock. He kissed her tenderly once more and then leaned his forehead against hers while they both caught their breath.

They stood this way for a while and then began making their way back towards the sand. They gathered their shoes and then after one last kiss they disappeared once more.

Please review! Reviews seriously help me to keep going. Once again, i'm sorry these two chapters took so long to get up, but I haven't given up on this story, I promise! Thanks for reading!


	12. A Beautiful View

Okay, so it's kind of ridiculous how long it's taken me to get this up, but summer's here, and I graduated, so no more stress for a while! I hope everyone can forgive me… Maybe I'll be able to write more often now, though. Please review! That's the best kind of motivation . Enjoy!

Hermione yawned and rolled over, thinking about the day ahead of her. She and Ron were going to go look for his apartment, and she was excited but a little nervous that they wouldn't have any luck. It had been a week since Ginny's birthday, and the Burrow had been quite calm ever since; she was ready to get out of the house.

She got out of bed and slipped on her jeans, not bothering to be quiet about it – she knew Ginny wouldn't wake up for another hour or two. She grabbed a book from her small selection and headed downstairs and out the kitchen door. The morning was hotter than usual, so she made her way towards a shady spot under a tree. About thirty minutes later Ron came outside and took a seat next to her. Hermione smiled in his general direction but didn't take her eyes off the page. Ron absentmindedly toyed with a piece of grass while he waited for her to find a stopping place. Finally after waiting silently for five minutes, he heaved a huge sigh, and when she didn't look over did it again. Hermione shut her book and was about to tell him off, but then she saw the nervous look on his face.

"Don't be nervous, Ron, we'll find something," she told him softly.

"I know, I know, it's just kinda… scary." He stood up and pulled her with him. "Come on, breakfast has to be ready."

She laughed at him and said, "Is that all you think about?"

He smirked and pulled her closer, "I think about you a lot," he said, and leaned in for a kiss.

She laughed again and pushed his face away. "Nice try Ron. Lets go."

When they got to the kitchen, Harry was sitting at the table bleary-eyed with a cup of tea in front of him. "M-m-morning," he said as he yawned.

"Oh, good," Mrs. Weasley said, appearing suddenly. "Ron, dear, go wake up Ginny. The school letters have just arrived."

"I would Mum, but I hate to take away those precious moments from Harry. He just told me that waking up Ginny is always the best part of his day." He shot a winning grin at Harry, who glared and discretely threw a sugar cube at him.

"That's sweet, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said absentmindedly, already occupied with cleaning the dishes. Harry let out a quiet sigh and made his way up the stairs to get Ginny.

It was almost ten minutes later when Harry and Ginny finally arrived in the kitchen, both looking a little mussed up, and something told Ron he didn't want to know how Harry woke Ginny up. One mischievous grin from Harry confirmed that suspicion, and Ron put it in this mind to never trick Harry into something like that again. Ron shook the image out of his head and then paid attention to Mrs. Weasley, who was handing out the letters. He leaned over Hermione's shoulder to read what was on hers.

She turned with a huge smile on her face before he could get a good look. "Look, Ron, McGonagall's made me head girl! I didn't think she would since… but this is wonderful!"

Mrs. Weasley beamed over at her, "Hermione, dear, that's such good news!"

"Hermione, who else would they make head girl?" Ron said, hugging her but rolling his eyes at the same time. He looked over to Harry and Ginny to see what they thought and found similar looks of shock on both of their faces. Ron sighed, "what now?"

Harry seemed to come to himself first and mumbled, "They've…er…made me Head Boy…" he didn't quite seem to know what to do with this information, but Hermione and Molly were beside themselves, both telling him that _of course_ he was made Head Boy and that there was no one better for the job. Even Ron didn't seem too surprised and smacked Harry on the back with a good natured "don't know what they were thinking."

Only Ginny remained silent through all of this, and eventually everyone looked back over at her with concern.

"Erm, Gin? Is something wrong?" Harry asked tentatively.

"I've been made quidditch captain…" she said with doubt and then looked over at Harry, who snorted.

Everyone looked at him. "Well, duh," he said. "Gin, who else would they pick?"

"No, Harry, you're supposed to be quidditch captain. This isn't right, McGonagall's made a mistake."

"She didn't make a mistake, Gin. I didn't think I was ever going back so I wrote to McGonagall last year telling her that I resigned and left the captain position to you. And even if I thought there was a chance I would come back I still would have left it to you. You deserve it more than I do; you helped Gryffindor when the Cup your fourth and fifth year and I…. didn't."

Ginny started to protest but he silenced her with a kiss on her forehead and a soft smile. "Really Ginny, I want this for you."

She still looked uncertain, but she threw her arms around Harry's neck and whispered "thank you" so quietly only he could hear it.

"Well, isn't this _wonderful_? A Head Boy, Head Girl, and quidditch Captain all under one roof! And my little boy, all grown up and getting his own apartment today…oh it's too much for a mother to handle. We'll have to celebrate for dinner tonight…" she continued talking to herself about setting up tables in the garden.

While Harry and Ginny sat down at the table to finish eating, Ron turned to Hermione. "You ready? I told Ms. Topple we would meet her at the Leaky Cauldron at 9:30."

"Where exactly did you find this woman, Ron?" Hermione asked as they stepped out the kitchen door.

"Er, George recommended the company to me…" he said uncertainly. Hermione responded only by rolling her eyes.

They were about twenty minutes early when they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, so they found a table and ordered two cups of tea. At nine thirty-five, Hermione started to get antsy.

"Hermione, she's only five minutes late. Not everyone's perfect like you." Ron said with a teasing smile as he tucked a curl behind her ear.

Hermione blushed and said, "I'm not perfect, and I just think she should be on time, considering this is a business deal and you're a potential customer and-"

"Mr. Weasley?"

Ron turned around at the sound of his name. A tall woman with extravagant blonde hair piled up on her head and long fingernails hesitantly walked up to them, and Ron was instantly reminded of a younger Rita Skeeter. He was a little wary of the woman, but stood and shook her hand nevertheless.

"I'm Ms. Nellie Topple, you can call me Nellie, and I'll be helping you look for your dream home today. Any specific things that you're looking for Mr. Weasley?"

"I just don't want anything too big." He answered.

"Okay, well, I'm sure we'll look at many things that will work." Nellie said. She seemed extremely nervous as she led them to the back exit of the pub. "We'll start in Diagon Alley, I suppose, and then we'll…" 

As Nellie continued to talk, Ron couldn't help but notice that she was acting more nervous than the situation called for. Hadn't this woman sold people places to live before? When Nellie messed up the brick combination to get into Diagon Alley for the third time, he decided to voice his concerns.

"Er, Nellie, Is everything alright? If this is a bad day for you, we can meet another time…?" 

"NO! I mean no, everything's fine it's just… I've never found a home for a celebrity before." She blurted.

Ron and Hermione just stared at her. Finally Ron shook himself and let out a humorless chuckle.

"Nellie, we're not celebrities."

"Oh, but you are! We had to draw names at the office to see who would get you!"

Ron, by now, was pink in the ears, but said quite calmly, "There's no reason to be nervous around us; we're just like any other customers. Please, don't feel like you have to act differently around us."

While Ron was a bit flattered, Hermione was just annoyed. Nellie reminded her too much of Lavender Brown for her to feel pity for the girl's clumsiness. She grabbed Ron's hand to discourage any future flirting on Nellie's part, and did the brick combination herself. As soon as the hole was large enough for her to fit through, Hermione shoved through and pulled Ron in after her, leading the way into the alley.

The first few flats that Nellie showed them were a bit too flashy for Ron. He felt as if he wouldn't be able to live there in fear of messing it up. The next few were a bit too small. After sharing a house with nine people, Ron wanted a roomy space to call his own. He felt so overwhelmed with trying to explain what exactly he wanted or needed to Nellie. If anything, he was glad Hermione was there, for she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

"No, this one won't work. Look, the only bathroom is in the bedroom and there's only space enough for one chair in the sitting room." Whenever Hermione made a comment like this, Ron just nodded his head and suggested they move on. 

When it seemed like they had visited every building in the world, Nellie finally said, "Well, that's all the listings in Diagon Alley, shall we try Hogsmeade next? Or perhaps you would like to try muggle London? Some wizards actually prefer to surround themselves with-"

"Hogsmeade, I think." Ron said.

"Very well!" Nellie said with a tired smile, "to the three broomsticks then!"

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed softly as they entered the fourth flat in Hogsmeade. The front door led into a sitting room with wooden floors. To the right Ron could see a open doorway that led into the kitchen and dining area. Hermione pulled him by the hand to the doorway and they looked around. The kitchen was full of earthy colors and had plenty of counter and cupboard space. Instead of being long and thin like most of the other kitchens they had seen today it was spacious and square, with a counter top for bar stool seating, and room enough for a small breakfast table as well. As they walked back through the doorway, Ron saw that there were no other doorways to go into off the sitting room, besides one that led to a half bath. There was, however, a spiral staircase that led to another floor. He and Hermione looked at each other and then began to ascend the staircase. The second floor consisted of two bedrooms. The first one they entered was on the small side, but had its own bathroom. The second one was obviously the master bedroom, with more floor space and a higher ceiling. As Hermione left his side to look at the master bathroom, Ron went in the opposite direction to open the blinds at the window.

As soon as he opened the blinds he knew. "Hermione, come look." He called to her softly. She came out of the bathroom and walked towards Ron with a smile on her face. She turned to look at what Ron was pointing at and gave a little gasp at what she saw. Outside the window was the most breathtaking view of Hogwarts she had ever seen. The castle, in all its glory, was high on its hill with the great vast lake surrounding the grounds.

As Nellie walked into the room to find them (she had let them go up alone first, to look around in privacy) she asked, "So, Mr. Weasley, what do you think? Two bedrooms, two and a half baths…the view, of course, adds a little to the price but-"

"I'll take it." Ron said without looking away from the view.

"Excellent! I'll prepare the papers!" And with that, Nellie fled from the room, leaving them alone once again.

Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders and whispered, "thanks."

Hermione tore her eyes away from the castle and asked, "for what?"

"For helping me! I couldn't have done this without you, I don't have the patience."

"I'll say!" she said, but softened it with a smile. "Its perfect Ron, the kitchen, the bedroom, that view…" she said, turning back to the window.

"Yeah, it is." He said. But in his opinion, the thing that made it perfect was simply how close he would be to the girl currently in his arms.

Thanks for reading, Please review!


	13. And Through the Haunted Halls He Walked

*Gives sheepish smile. I'm sorry I haven't updated… you know the story. Here's the next chapter! I own nothing. Oh! I had an interesting question come my way. Someone asked me if I was planning on simply writing about the main characters and their love lives, how they're getting by after the war, etc. or if I had plans for a bigger plot line. The truth is, I have no idea. Obviously I'm still struggling with updating! As of right now, I'll just be writing about the characters lives after the war because I haven't thought of a good plot line. If I do think of one, I'll consider writing it, but I think of myself as a very VERY amateur writer and I don't really trust myself with big plots, especially after what JK Rowling gave us. Just let me know what you guys think. If y'all are hungry for a juicier plotline, then I'll try and squeeze one up ;). Thank you all so much for continuing to support this story even after I've been SO late on chapters, it means a lot. OH! And check out this fan video that some friends of mine made on youtube, its pretty funny! It's called "Wizard (billionaire parody)" I'll try and put a link on my profile. Okay, now you can read what you wanted in the first place. Enjoy!

"That got old a long time ago," Ginny grumbled as yet another first year walked away from them in the common room after timidly asking for their autograph. It was the second week of school and already she, Harry, and Hermione had been asked for enough autographs to fill a book.

"Be patient Ginny, it will all blow over eventually," Hermione said, a little doubtfully. Harry took this opportunity to roll his eyes, and Ginny gave her a look.

"Hermione, how am I supposed to finish this essay for Driggers if I keep getting interrupted? You know that she doesn't care what we did in May. All she's worried about is whether or not I know how to transfigure glass into sand." Driggers was the new Transfiguration professor. If possible, she was even stricter than McGonagall ever was.

As Harry listened to the two girls discuss how much work Driggers had assigned, he reflected on the past two weeks of school. It had felt so weird coming here and going to class while trying to forget what happened last spring. Everywhere he looked a new memory would pop up, and it didn't help that the castle wasn't fully repaired yet. There were still cracks in some of the walls, and some of the subjects in portraits were still recovering from injury. All the bloodstains had been removed, but no one could erase the pictures Harry had in his mind. All of the professors had tried to resume classes as normally as possible, and Professor McGonagall had done a good job with leading the sorting and opening feast. But it would never be the same to Harry. Even the train ride up was weird without Ron there. It was just he, Neville, and Dean, along with a couple of other boys who were Ginny's age that he didn't know very well. Seamus had decided to find a job like Ron did. With a pang, Harry realized that Collin Creevy would be rooming with them as well if he had survived.

"Harry? Harry!"

"Wha…?" Harry looked down at Ginny, who was leaning against his legs. He had been absentmindedly stroking her hair, completely lost in his thoughts. She exchanged a look with raised eyebrows with Hermione before turning back to him.

"We, uh, were just wondering if you were ready to go down to dinner?"

"Oh, you guys go ahead, I'm going to work on this essay a little more." He gave her a preoccupied smile and then looked down at the essay he had already completed. Ginny ran her fingers through his hair and then turned to leave with Hermione.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked as she helped herself to a tart. "Did Harry look… weird to you tonight?"

Hermione considered it for a moment. "Well, he was definitely thinking about something. But that seems to be his choice expression lately, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess I'm worrying about nothing. I mean, what else should I expect from him, being in this castle again isn't easy on anyone."

"Still." Hermione told her, "I would talk to him before he starts wallowing."

Ginny nodded and chewed, wondering what she should say to him this time.

"Sorry, is this seat taken?" Ginny saw Hermione's face light up as a tall, ginger figure walked towards them. Ron had been joining them for dinner about two times a week. Ginny was always happy to see him, especially because she could see how much Hermione missed him. She decided this would be a good time to go talk to Harry.

"I'll see you two later." She winked at Hermione, ruffled Ron's hair, and left quickly.

Harry didn't quite know what possessed him to come to this spot. Honestly, it was the last place he wanted to be sitting, the last moment he wanted to be reliving. Nevertheless, after Ginny and Hermione left for dinner his feet had brought him here. And now he wanted to be anywhere but here, yet he couldn't move. He also wanted Ginny to be with him. He knew that it was his own fault for acting standoffish and detached, but he didn't want as much alone time as she had been giving him.

"Hey. I thought I might find you here."

Surprised, he turned around and saw her slight figure walking toward him. Ginny sighed and took a seat on the cold ground. Harry immediately put his arm around her to pull her closer to him and kissed her hair, inhaling deeply.

"How in the world did you know I would be here?"

She looked up at him and grinned sheepishly. "I lied, I had no idea if you would be up here or not. This is like the seventh place I've checked."

He chuckled at that and then leaned his head against hers. "I had no idea I would be here either. But I can't keep it out of my mind, Gin. I just want to forget everything that happened."

She sat quietly for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Then, in the softest of voices said, "Would it really do us any good to forget, Harry? I know the memories are painful, but they made us stronger. Those experiences made us who we are today. That was very cheesy," she laughed. "Cheesy but true".

He looked at her, stunned for a moment. Then, very slowly, he cupped her chin with one hand and brushed back her long hair with the other. "You, my lady, are more beautiful than the stars tonight."

"Just tonight?" she teased.

He didn't answer. Instead, he kissed her forehead, then both cheeks, her nose, her chin, and then whispered softly, "They don't even compare." He kissed her lips gently once, and then tucked her safely in his arms. He would never fear the memory of this tower again, because this was the place where the stars looked down on the moment he knew he wanted to marry Ginny one day.

"Would you two _please_ cut it out? I think I'm going to be sick." Hermione was well aware of the foot war going on between Ginny and Harry. It was the last class on a Friday afternoon. It was also Halloween. Needless to say, not much attention was being paid to poor professor Binns. The next day was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, and Hermione couldn't wait to spend the whole day with Ron. Even though he only lived a short walk away, she hadn't had much time for him between all of her schoolwork and Head Girl duties. She needed a break.

"Sorry Hermione," Ginny giggled. "We're bored."

"So I can tell," she answered dryly. "You know that I'm not going to give you my notes, right?

"Is that what you call those?" Ginny asked with a sly grin.

Hermione blushed and quickly covered up her parchment where she had been absentmindedly doodling Ron's name. "Oh, hush up Footsy."

Harry leaned across Ginny and whispered, "He misses you too, Hermione. Believe me. You're all he talked about in his last letter." He rolled his eyes. Then, seeing Hermione's expression Harry cleared his throat and decided to change the subject. "So, what do you think they're going to do to Malfoy and his mother?"

That morning, the headline of The Daily Prophet had been, "Lucius Malfoy Thrown Into Azkaban Without Trial for Affiliations with 'You Know Who'". The article had said that a decision hadn't been made about what to do with Draco or Mrs. Malfoy. They had been taken into custody and their trial was set for the following week. Harry honestly thought that Lucius Malfoy had gotten what he deserved, but he had mixed feelings about the other two. On the one hand, Draco and Mrs. Malfoy had done their part, but it was more out of cowardice than anything else. Harry also had conflicting feelings because, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Malfoy hadn't given him away at Malfoy Manor, and Mrs. Malfoy had saved his life in the forest.

"I don't know," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Whatever they do, it won't be-"

"Mr. Peters! Miss Grunnings!" Professor Binns had paused in his never-ending lecture to glare over at them. "Kindly stop yapping and pay attention."

"Sorry, Professor," they both mumbled as Ginny bit back a snicker. Thankfully at that moment the bell ending class rang and all the seventh years hurried out of the classroom.

"Harry! Hey, Harry!"

Harry turned and saw Neville hurrying towards him. He grinned and said, "Hey Neville."

"I'm so sorry, I only just now remembered to tell you that Professor McGonagall wants to see you after classes are over today… so, now. She told me to tell you to bring some licorice wands…?"

"Ah, thank you Neville. I'll catch up with you guys later!" With that, he turned and hurried for the headmistresses office, quickly telling the gargoyle when he arrived the password, which was of course 'licorice wands'. As the spiraling staircase moved slowly upward, Harry couldn't help but feel uneasy.

When the staircase stopped rising, Harry tentatively knocked on the door.

"It's unlocked!" He heard McGonagall call, and Harry entered warily. Even though he liked Professor McGonagall very much, he still always felt like he was in trouble whenever he was in her presence.

When he saw who was in there, however, he grinned widely. "Kingsley! I mean, er, Minister Kingsley."

Kingsley waved him off and reached out to shake his hand. "Hello, Harry, how are you?"

"I'm alright, thanks, and you?"

"I'm playing the bearer of bad news today, I'm afraid," Kingsley said with a grave face.

Harry's smile quickly faded when he heard this. "What's going on? What happened?"

"It's nothing urgent, Potter, don't worry," Professor McGonagall eased. "Please, sit. Kingsley will explain everything. Ginger biscuit?" She held out a tin of cookies to him.

"I'm good, thanks. What is this about?"

"Well, Harry, I'm sure you've seen in the paper this morning the news about the Malfoys."

Harry nodded to show that he had.

"The trial, as you've read, is next week for the boy and his mother. And… the court needs a witness."

Harry's heart sank as he heard this news. Of _course_ they would need a witness. And who would be a more convincing witness than Harry Potter himself?

"All you will have to do, Harry, is testify against them so we can send them to Azkaban. It won't take much, their fate as practically already been decided." Kingsley said in a businesslike tone.

Harry thought about this for a moment. Was this really what Draco and Mrs. Malfoy deserved? A life sentence to Azkaban? Harry almost pitied the two of them. He had seen the looks of fear on their faces whenever Voldemort was mentioned. He knew that most of what Mrs. Malfoy did was to protect her son. They were both cowards, yes, but they weren't evil. They were human. The question was, what was Harry going to do about it?

Thanks for reading! I'll try and get the next one up soon. I know this one was kinda short, but there's more to come! By the way, Harry's proposal to Ginny was the first thing I wrote for this story. At first, I was going to make it a one shot thing, but then it evolved into this… and look what I've gotten myself into ;). Just a little fun fact, I can't wait for you guys to read that chapter! Even though it wont be up for a while haha. Thanks again for reading!


	14. Court Rooms and Life Lessons

Hey peeps! Please enjoy, and Review Review!

Harry wiped his sweaty palms on his trouser leg. Had the courtrooms always been this warm? He didn't think so… but he didn't want to think about the last time he was down here last fall. Harry sighed as he waited outside courtroom eight. This whole situation had been a pain in the wand. He hadn't even been able to properly enjoy the Hogsmeade trip last weekend with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Instead, the four of them had trudged to the Hog's Head (less people asking to take their picture with them) where they received butterbeers from Aberforth on the house.

After Harry had left McGonagall's office last week, he decided to go with his gut feeling and tell the truth about Draco and Mrs. Malfoy: they weren't as bad as everyone thought. He was going to tell the Wizengamot everything the two of them had done for him last year, and then let the judges decide their fate. When he had discussed this with the other three, Hermione and Ginny almost immediately supported his ideas. Even Ron, albeit grudgingly, eventually agreed.

"I don't like it, but even I have to admit that you'd be a goner twice over if they hadn't helped." Ron took a huge gulp of butterbeer then mumbled "stupid ferret" as an afterthought.

But now that Harry was so close to doing it he was having second thoughts. Would the Wizengamot even take him seriously? It was already known that Harry had a rough past with the Malfoys, so what would be their reaction to his sudden change of heart? No. No, he would do exactly what he planned, and then let them decide. And if it all went badly… well, he had done his part and he wouldn't worry about it any more. Harry couldn't help but think, however, that Draco and Mrs. Malfoy's lives were resting in his sweaty palms.

Finally, the grimy doors swung open and he was called inside. As he walked in, he was unhappy to see that Draco and Narcissa were chained to their chairs. Both were looking worse for wear and neither would look him in the eye, undoubtedly thinking that Harry was here to testify against them. When he looked up at the Wizengamot, many people smiled and waved at him, a much different greeting from the last time he was in court. He noticed with great relief the complete lack of Dementors in the vast room, and when he looked up at the judges stand, felt another wave of relief to see Kingsley himself sitting there. At least there was a chance the ruling would be fair.

Kingsley smiled and gave him a small nod before saying, "Full Name?"

"Harry James Potter", Harry answered.

"Mr. Potter, you have been called here as a witness to testify against the accused, is this true?"

This was it. "Actually, I will be testifying, er, on behalf of the accused," He said quite fast.

Kingsley sat there shocked for half a second, but then, being the good man he was, nodded and only said, "please, go on".

Harry took a deep, calming breath, looked only at Kingsley, and started speaking. "Look, there's no way I can stand here and tell you that Draco and Narcissa Malfoy are completely innocent; we all know that they've had affiliations with Voldemort. But you have to know that if it wasn't for these two I would probably be dead."

Kingsley, looking confused, shook his head and said, "Please explain, Harry".

"When Ron, Hermione, and myself were taken hostage by Snatchers to Malfoy Manor last spring, Draco had the opportunity to tell them it was me. I was in disguise, but I know he knew. Bellatrix Lestrange and Mr. Malfoy asked Draco if it was me, but he didn't confirm it. Then at a later time, Mrs. Malfoy lied to Voldemort himself and saved my life. She didn't do it for me; all of her actions were done in order to get to her son. But, it still saved my life. These two followed Voldemort to protect themselves and their family, not because they supported everything he was doing. Yes, they were acting out of sheer cowardice, but how many of us would have done the same thing if it meant protecting our family? I'm sorry… I can't stand here and tell you that they were fully supportive and active in all of Voldemort's actions when I know for a fact that they didn't care what Voldemort did. They only cared about protecting each other. That's all I really have to say."

Kingsley nodded at him and said, "Thank you, Harry, you may go."

Harry turned halfway towards the Malfoys, gave a short nod in the general direction of their shocked faces, and walked out of the courtroom.

"Man, I wish I could have seen the look on their faces! I hope those two appreciate what you just did… probably just kept them from a life-long sentence to Azkaban!"

Harry and Ron were sitting at Ron's small kitchen table drinking a very strong and somewhat stale cup of tea. Ron was still getting used to domestic life.

"I don't know, Ron, the Wizengamot might not even listen to me. _They_ sure didn't anticipate Harry Potter speaking on the behalf of the accused. I bet they're still trying to decide what to do with them. I guess it will be in the Profit tomorrow morning."

"Mmhmm" Ron took a big gulp of his tea, winced, and then said, "I need to get better at that".

"Yeah, mate, no offense but this tea is awful." Harry said with a big grin.

"Oh, sod off Harry," Ron replied, but gave a grudging smile.

Harry laughed and then said, "so, how're things at the shop with George?"

"They're okay... George is starting to get more motivated now that bigger orders come in every day. He's joking around now a little too. There's a new witch working there I think he's trying to impress. Name's Regina. She's pretty easy on the eyes."

Harry gave Ron a look

"What? Am I not allowed to notice that a girl's attractive?"

Harry laughed "No. You aren't allowed to notice other girls at all. Other girls don't exist to you as far as Hermione's concerned, got it? Don't even _mention_ another girl to her. If you have a funny story to tell that involves walking down the street and noticing that a girl is wearing the same rare Cannons t-shirt you are, you change it to a boy."

"Oh, Hermione wouldn't freak out, would she?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"Maybe not out loud. But you go ahead and see what happens when you mention that there's a girl working at the shop," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"Fine, I will. And I'll show you that it won't bother Hermione at all."

Harry was still shaking his head when there was a knock at the door. Ron left to go get it and came back with two disgruntled looking witches.

Harry laughed and stood up to greet his best friend and girlfriend. "What happened to you two?" He asked with a chuckle.

Hermione shook her head and said, "Driggers class was harder than usual today. It was a bad day to miss, Harry."

Ginny stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek and said, "You would not _believe _how much home work she assigned today. A four-foot essay on how to transfigure an animal into an inanimate object and its uses. Four feet! And then when she called me out in class to demonstrate and I couldn't do it properly because I was so focused on you being in court and all _your_ problems she assigned me another six inches!"

"I'm sorry, Gin," Harry said with a suppressed smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I have to write the essay too, and I didn't get any in-class practice."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. "It's such a rough life for you." She sat down in his chair and took a sip from his mug of tea. "Ugh, Ron! What is this, dragon piss?"

Ron frowned at her. "Oh stop being so dramatic, It isn't that bad."

Hermione stood up and went to the kitchen saying, "Don't worry, I'll put a new pot on."

As Hermione walked away, Ginny asked, "So what were you boys talking about?"

"Oh," Harry said, "Ron was just telling me how things were at the shop. What's new, and all that."

"And what's new?" Hermione asked, coming back and taking the chair next to Ron's.

Ron took a quick glance at Harry and replied, "George is starting to act more like himself. And there's a new witch working there now."

"Oh, really?" said Hermione. "What's her name?"

"Regina…" Ron said slowly.

"Huh." Hermione said nonchalantly. "And um, what color hair does she have?"

Ron looked confused. "Hair? I dunno, reddish blonde?"

"Uh oh, wrong answer," Harry mumbled. "Hey Gin, you wanna go to the living room?"

They hurried out just as Hermione said, "That specific, huh? And what else can you tell me about _Regina?_"

"Whew," Harry said as they walked into the cozy living room. He flicked his wand a the fireplace and a small fire appeared. "I told him not to."

Ginny laughed but then sobered as they took a seat on the couch. "How was the trial today? Did they react badly?"

"I didn't really stick around long enough to hear anything, too many bad memories down there. They did look pretty shocked, though. And I think the Malfoys thought they were being pranked. I guess we'll see if it made a difference tomorrow."

"Well, I'm proud of you Harry. I know that wasn't easy," She said gently.

"Yeah, well, It's all over now. Nothing to do but wait. Anything else exciting happen in class?"

"Nothing else, really. That dumb Ravenclaw girl spilled frog spawn all over herself in potions. So that was entertaining."

Harry looked at her. "Which Ravenclaw girl?"

"She glanced up at him. "You know, the pretty one with the long dark hair…?"

Harry shook his head. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

Ginny smiled and patted him on the cheek. "I've taught you so well."

Thank you so much for reading! I hope to update soon. PLEASE review and let me know your thoughts!


	15. Insight

Thanks for the patience guys! I had a request for a recap at the beginning of each chapter, so last time Harry went and defended Draco and Mrs. Malfoy in court. I hope you enjoy!

MALFOYS GET OFF EASY!

The wizarding world was baffled when

yesterday the Wizengamot announced that

Draco and Narcissa Malfoy were not sentenced to

Azkaban. Instead, they were given five years of

house arrest and a fine of 75,000 Galleons each.

As to why these known Dark Lord followers

were given such a small punishment, the

Wizengamot and Minister of Magic Kinsgley

Shacklebolt refused to give any information

on what went on in the courtroom. Story

continued on page 5.

"What in the BLOODY hell?" George nearly spilled pumpkin juice over himself as he read the morning paper. He sat staring at the page and then quickly turned to page five, where surely, he thought, it would say 'only joking, both mother and son were given a life sentence'. He was still gaping at the story when Ron walked in the door.

"Ron, have you seen this? It's mad!" George yelled as Ron began pouring himself a glass.

"What? Oh, that…yeah I've seen it." He looked down at the table, but didn't say anything more. He slowly took a sip of his juice and avoided eye contact with George.

"Why aren't you more upset about this? You and Malfoy have been enemies since first year!" He looked closely at Ron, who was still avoiding eye contact. "What do you know?"

Ron quickly stood up from the table and walked to the sink to rinse out his glass so he could hide his face. "What are you talking about, I know just as much as you do. I've just already gotten over my shock." Ron knew that Harry wouldn't want it to get out that he defended the Malfoys. Ron didn't even think that he would want anyone but he, Hermione, and Ginny to know. "I'm gonna go downstairs, I still have some sorting from last night to finish."

George watched him until he had disappeared down the stairs that led to the shop. If it had been last year, he and Fred would have jinxed Ron until he surrendered and spilled the beans, and then- But that was still to painful to think about. On the outside, George had been doing a fairly good job of keeping his emotions in tact, only snapping at people for no reason about once every two weeks. But on the inside, he was still on fire. He ached every day for his twin. Working with Ron was okay, but Fred used to always know exactly what George was talking about when it came to new products. With Ron, he always had to explain and he often became frustrated and flustered. He knew Ron was doing the best he could, so he tried to suppress his feelings most of the time, but it didn't always work.

He sighed and put the newspaper down, rubbing his eyes exhaustedly. He hadn't been getting much sleep lately; too many bad dreams. George stood up from the table and pushed back the sleeves of his work robes, heading down to the shop. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw that Ron was talking to a woman in the front of the store. He checked his watch: 9:15. The store didn't open for another forty-five minutes.

"Excuse me ma'am," he called, "the store doesn't open- Oh, hullo Angelina."

"Hi, George." She said, waving over at him. "Sorry I don't mean to be an inconvenience, I just saw Ron through the window and thought I'd say hi."

"I'm glad you did," he said giving her a distracted smile. "excuse me, I've got to go…" he lamely finished and turned towards the back room. When he arrived amongst the boxes of new products, he realized that Angelina had followed him.

"Oh! Hey, Ang, what's up?" He said with as much friendliness as he could muster.

She looked a little uncomfortable. "How're you doing, George?"

Any cheerful pretense that he had tried to keep up was lost and he just stared at her, somewhat disbelievingly.

"Er, right, sorry… dumb question." She said, turning rather red. "It's just… I miss him too. And I miss _you. _I feel like I haven't seen you in a year."

"Well, I haven't been up for much socializing, if you know what I mean," he said, turning his back on her and pretending to rummage through one of the boxes. Why was she doing this to him? She had been Fred's girlfriend, for Merlin's sake, seeing her brought back too many painful memories.

"Sometimes, George, it's better to talk about how you're feeling. Fred wouldn't have wanted—"

George stood up straight. "DON'T," he said, almost yelling, "talk to me about what Fr- he would have wanted. HE would have wanted to stay alive. HE would have wanted to-" But George couldn't finish. He wanted to throw something. "I think you should go, Angelina. Thanks for dropping by." He turned around and continued to rummage for nothing in the box.

She didn't move for about ten seconds, and he could feel her eyes studying him. Then she said in a shaky voice, "I just got a flat in London near St. Mungos. Here," she put a small piece of paper on a nearby box. "If you change your mind… well, I'll be there."

He glanced up in time to see her tear-filled eyes, and then she quickly fed the room. George sat down on a box and cursed under his breath. He knew that Angelina was only trying to reach out for him, but he was barely able to talk to his own family. George glanced over at the slip of paper she had left on the box and felt the urge to set it on fire. He angrily picked it up, but something made him pocket it. With one last calming breath he went out to the main store to help Ron.

The months were flying by so fast for Harry that before he knew it they were on the train ride home for Christmas. It had been a good term, he thought, as he remembered the better parts (most of them involving a lot of free time with Ginny). Getting rid of Voldemort, it seemed, had also gotten rid of a lot of stress in his life. He was definitely able to enjoy school more.

The Gryffindor quidditch team was excellent this year. Ginny was a good captain, and knew how to motivate her players well. Ginny had decided to keep the returning members from last year on the team; Coote and Peakes as beaters and replacing Katie with Dean to join Ginny and Demelza as chasers. That had only left the keeper, but there had been many hopefuls for the position. On the day of tryouts, fifteen Gryffindors showed up to get the spot. Ginny ended up choosing Dennis Creevy, who was rather larger as a fifth year now, and, although he was much quieter than he used to be, he worked well with the team and had excellent hand-eye coordination.

They had won the first match (Slytherin Vs. Gryffindor) within the first fifteen minutes of the game. Harry reflected that he was able to enjoy playing so much more without all the responsibility of being a captain. Ginny, however, seemed as though she had been born to be captain, and often voiced aloud her growing desire to play professionally.

Hermione was to spend Christmas with her parents, much to Ron's disappointment. But seeing as how they hadn't known she existed for a year, she felt the need to spend as much time with them as possible.

"Ron's going to be a right pain over holiday, you know that right?" Harry teased Hermione as they made their last Head boy and girl rounds before the train stopped.

"Oh, he'll be fine. I'm sure you'll be glad to be rid of the bickering," she said with a laugh.

"I'm definitely used to it by now," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "What did you get him for Christmas?"

"I actually haven't had time to look for anything yet. Oh, I really hope Ron doesn't try to pick out perfume again…"

Harry laughed. "Don't worry, I'll help."

"Thank goodness. It looks like we're slowing down, we better go get our things."

They got off the train with Ginny and were greeted by Ron, Arthur, and Molly. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hugged Ginny and Hermione ran straight into Ron's arms. Harry watched as they discreetly left to find a secluded corner where he was sure they would be saying a very non-verbal goodbye. Saved from this unpleasant thought, Mrs. Weasley grabbed him up in a huge hug.

"How are you, Harry dear?" she asked, looking quite concerned. She was one of the few that knew he had defended the Malfoys.

"I'm fine," he said, looking her in the eye. And it was the truth; compared to his past holidays this one had great potential. "Shall we go then?" he added, noticing that Ron and Hermione were attempting to sneak back unnoticed, looking slightly more ruffled than before.

The Burrow was definitely quieter this year, and Harry could feel the sadness in the air. He kept expecting Tonks or Remus to walk in the door, or Fred to come bounding downstairs before remembering why they weren't. He, Ginny and Ron often sought relief from the depressed feeling of the house outside, despite the bitter cold.

Christmas eve was pleasant enough; the table wasn't as full as usual, but Percy was there and that seemed to make Mrs. Weasley happier than she had been in a long time. George was quiet, but no one forced him into the conversation. Bill and Fleur would be joining them for Christmas dinner the following evening, as would Andromeda and Teddy, which pleased Harry. Everyone seemed to feel relaxed as they sat in the living room around the tree after dinner, listening to the radio. Harry even felt comfortable putting his arm around Ginny in front of her parents, although Ron seemed a little disgruntled.

Harry lied awake for a long time that night, sleep not wanting to come to him. Finally, he gave up and cautiously made his way downstairs, skipping the ones that creaked. He pushed Ginny's door open slowly, not wanting to wake her if she was asleep. When it was open enough for him to poke his head through, however, he saw that she was still awake, reading a magazine by wand light.

She looked up and smiled. "Couldn't sleep?"

He shook his head, quietly shut the door, and made his way over to her bed where he motioned for her to scoot over. He got under the covers and wrapped his arms around her waist. She ignored him for a moment, finishing her page, and then tossed her magazine aside and snuggled closer to Harry. "May I help you?" She asked while casting the _Muffliato _spell on the door.

He chuckled, but didn't say anything. He knew he was really pushing his luck being in here, but he already felt more relaxed. He merely nuzzled her shoulder with his nose and inhaled her flowery scent. Sensing his mood, she didn't say anything. They just lay there, and eventually they both fell into a peaceful sleep.

Thanks for reading! I'll try and have the next chapter up soon, it shouldn't take long. Please let me know what you thought and REVIEW! 


	16. Christmas Suprises

Okay, so in the last chapter Angelina visited George at the shop, we found out that Draco and Narcissa were not sentenced to Azkaban, Hermione is spending Christmas with her family, and Harry snuck into Ginny's bedroom on Christmas Eve. Yes? Thanks for reading!

Harry woke Christmas morning feeling warm… a little too warm. He looked down to see Ginny still wrapped up in his arms. What had he done? He looked at his watch: 5:17. He thought there might still be a chance that no one was awake yet, but then he saw the pile of packages at the foot of Ginny's bed; that meant that either Mr. or Mrs. Weasley had already banished the presents to everyone's beds, and that must have been what woke him up. In a panic, he carefully removed himself from Ginny's arms, trying not to disturb her or the pile of gifts. He eventually made it to the door and put his ear up to listen for any feet coming down the stairs. Thinking he was quite safe, he slowly turned the knob and opened the door… and walked right into Mr. Weasley.

Harry was so shocked and terrified that all he could do was open his mouth in horror. _This is scarier than a dementor attack_, he thought, bracing himself for a curse, or even a sentence of banishment from the Burrow.

Mr. Weasley, however, merely smirked into his coffee mug and continued down the stairs as if he hadn't seen Harry. Confused, Harry wasn't able to move for a solid minute, the same horrified expression on his face. He eventually gained back his senses and hurried back up the stairs to his bed. Still shaking, he began opening the presents he didn't feel he deserved.

Two hours later Harry finally found the courage to make his way down the stairs. He found the rest of the family in the sitting room enjoying the gifts that they had received earlier that morning.

"Well there you are sleepyhead!" Laughed Ginny. Harry smiled tentatively and tried to avoid Mr. Weasley's eyes. He wondered if Arthur had shared what he witnessed this morning with his wife. By the way Mrs. Weasley was smiling lovingly Harry he didn't think so. He mustered up a sort of smile and sat down next to Ginny, thanking everyone for the gifts.

"What's with the grimace, Harry? Eat too many sweets?" Ron asked jokingly, elbowing him in he sides.

Harry rubbed his ribs where Ron had jabbed him and tried to laugh along with him, braving a glance at Mr. Weasley. Arthur caught his eye and winked. Relieved, Harry thought he might be safe… at least for now.

Breakfast began as a quiet affair, all of them feeling the loss of loved ones, until Charlie surprised them all by showing up. Mrs. Weasley was so surprised and happy that she at once began preparing even more food, and everyone was suddenly very talkative. Talkative enough for no one to notice George leave a note on a napkin and slip into the garden.

George had been feeling guilty about the way he treated Angelina ever since it happened. He kept the slip of paper with her address on it in his jacket pocket and every time he reached in for something he felt it, and the guilt came flooding back. George apparated before he could think too much about it and found himself outside St. Mungos. He took the worn paper out of his pocket and started walking in the direction of the address. George finally came upon Angelina's building and walked up the stairs to the right room, his heart beating faster with every step. He almost turned back around more than once, but finally his feet brought him to a standstill and his fist was knocking on the door.

He could hear a lot of voices chattering that he hadn't noticed before, and they became louder as an older man with caramel skin opened the door with a smile that turned confused when he saw George.

"George Weasley?" Asked the man who George could only assume was Angelina's father.

"Er, hullo sir, I'm sorry if this is a bad time—"

Then Angelina showed up in the doorway, a surprised look on her face as well. "George! What...Why…How are you?" she finally settled on the question. "Please come in! We were just finishing breakfast."

"Are you sure?" He asked, a little embarrassed now that he saw quite a few people peeking around the corner to see who had showed up uninvited on a Christmas morning.

Angelina had a sincere smile on her face now that the shock had worn off. "Of course! Its so good to see you!" She stepped aside and allowed George to step through the threshold.

That afternoon the Weasley family and Harry were relaxing in the living room, the fireplace bringing a comforting glow. Christmas dinner was cooking in the kitchen and the delicious smells were wafting into them, all of their stomachs rumbling. Mrs. Weasley would occasionally go and check on a dish, and every time she stood up she would wonder aloud where exactly George had gone. But no one was too worried; he tended to wander off a lot.

Harry was still tiptoeing around Mr. Weasley, afraid that if he made one wrong move Arthur would spill the beans to the rest of the family. And now that Bill and Fleur were here he was being extra careful, not wanting to have a run-in with Ginny's oldest brother. Andromeda and Teddy had arrived not long after breakfast. At first, Andromeda seemed as though she felt out of place, and had held tightly to Teddy, not wanting to release her one comfort. But eventually she began to relax around the family, allowing Harry to take Teddy in his arms and hold him on the couch next to Ginny.

Teddy was quite a well-behaved baby. He could sit up on his own and was very playful. He had the tendency to look at one person and immediately change his hairstyle to look like theirs. At this given moment, his hair was rapidly changing between a thick, messy black and a fiery red. Ginny was delighted with Teddy's talent, but Harry felt a strange, queasy sensation whenever he thought about a child that had his or Ginny's hair. He was definitely not ready for that yet.

Another couple seemed quite interested in Teddy. Fleur was holding him at every opportunity she had (at which point Teddy's hair would turn an astounding white-blonde) and would look at Bill with lovey-dovey eyes. Bill would return her look but when she turned away a slight look of panic would settle on his face. At one of these moments Harry was going to voice his observation to Ginny, but he noticed Mr. Weasley quietly slipping out of the room and into the Garden. Harry could only guess that Arthur was headed out for some quiet time in his shed, so he gave Ginny a quick hand squeeze and followed him out, deciding it would be best to confront the man while he was away from everyone else.

When Harry walked into the shed, Arthur didn't seem surprised to see him there. He just got that same smirk on his face and gestured to an old car seat. Harry sat down on the edge of the leather and looked up at Mr. Weasley slowly.

"I'm sorry sir, I know what I did was wrong but I swear nothing happened, and I won't do it again, I promise," he said quickly.

Mr. Weasley looked at him without speaking. After a long moment, he finally said, "Don't make promises you can't keep, Harry."

Harry opened his mouth to respond but then closed it again, hearing what Mr. Weasley said. Would he do it again? He had to admit that the thought was tempting… Harry was confused, so that's exactly what he told Mr. Weasley.

"I'm confused Mr. Weasley."

Arthur chuckled and took a seat on the stool across from Harry. "You have a right to be, Son. You and Ginny have been through more than most couples will go through their entire lives. It's understandable that you seek comfort in her, especially at night when nightmares are so present. But I know it's hard for you to have to deal with things as simple as parental control when both of you are of age and well beyond your years. I also know that I wouldn't feel comfortable about Ginny dating anyone but you, Harry. God knows she can take care of herself, but it's good to know that she has such a brave, selfless man in her life."

Harry was speechless for a solid thirty seconds. He was very flattered that Mr. Weasley thought so highly of him, and he was also quite relieved. "Um, thank you sir! That… that means a lot. I promise to do my best to take care of her, and that's a promise I can definitely keep."

"I know you will Harry. And about the incident last night. I know you two didn't do anything but sleep, but just be careful. I can't promise that Molly will be as understanding."

Harry laughed, "Yes sir."

"And for goodness sakes, Harry, call me Arthur."

George was having a surprisingly good time with Angelina and her family. She had explained to him that since she recently moved into her flat she decided to host Christmas there to make it feel more homey. Her family was extremely friendly and welcoming, even though it was a bit overwhelming for him. He had met both her parents, her younger sister, two aunts, three uncles, and four cousins. Not exactly a Weasley bash, but it was close! Especially with the small amount of elbow room in the flat. But He could how happy it made Angelina to have her family there.

They had a chance to really talk when they were doing the dishes a little bit after they got there. At first it was a bit awkward, considering the last conversation they had.

"Look, Angelina," he began as he hand-dried a plate she had just given him. "I'm really sorry for the way I acted last time I saw you. I was just… surprised to see you and it brought up a lot of thoughts of… you know…"

She was quiet for a moment, looking down at the sudsy plates in her hands. "It's okay George, I shouldn't have showed up unannounced like that. It's just that I've had a really hard time with this too, and I thought you might be a person that would want to talk to me about it. I mean, my family has been avoiding the subject because they don't really know what to say. But it was unfair for me to try and force you to talk about things if you don't want to."

"It's still just too painful, Angelina. Everything reminds me of him…but it does make me feel better to know that you're here if I need you," he said, his cheeks turning red.

She looked at him, surprised at his honesty. Gently, and without looking at him, she squeezed his hand and let go almost instantly.

"Me too."

When Harry and Arthur made their way back into the house they found Kingsley sitting amongst the red heads at the kitchen table.

"Kingsley!" Harry said, delighted. "What are you doing here? I mean, how are you?"

Kingsley chuckled and said, "I'm fine, thank you Harry. I actually came to talk to you and Ron about something… could I speak to you both privately in the living room?"

Ron looked at Harry, confused, but shrugged and made his way out of the kitchen. Harry followed behind and he could feel Ginny's eyes on his back the whole way.

Harry and Ron sat on the loveseat while Kinsley took the chair that Mr. Weasley usually occupied. Harry gave a dry laugh when he realized that a year and a half ago he was sitting in similar circumstances in this living room, although with a different minister. That got him a weird look from Ron.

"Er… can we help you with something Kingsley?" Harry said after they had been sitting there a few quiet seconds.

"As a matter of fact you can." He said, with a small smile. I've come here today to ask the two of you to reconsider becoming Aurors sooner rather than later." He held up his hands when both boys opened their mouths to protest. "Please, just one moment. Ron, I know that you changed your mind over the summer altogether about becoming an Auror, and Harry I know that it is your wish to finish school so you can become an Auror "fairly" as you put it. But you boys need to realize that after the war last spring the Ministry of Magic is in desperate need for new recruits. The casualties left a very small number, and I'm just afraid that there aren't many other recruits that are planning on graduating from Hogwarts this year, or even next year. Everyone is wary of the dark arts… and I can't really blame them. But you two boys have more courage and bravery than most of the school combined. I ask you, please, to just listen to my words and consider coming to train. We've figured out how to condense the training so that you two will be ready at the end of the summer. It will be extremely intense, but goodness knows the two of you have enough life experience."

Ron and Harry sat there with their mouths slightly agape. Almost at the same time they looked at each other, and then back to Kingsley.

Ron spoke first. "Did you ask Hermione too?"

Kingsley nodded. "Yes, I just came from her house. She said that she would much rather do research for the department of Magical Law Enforcement than be out in the field, so to speak, which is what I expected, but she would make a fantastic Auror as well."

Ron nodded, looking slightly relieved that Hermione hadn't accepted. Harry felt a similar relief.

"So," Harry began, "we would do all our training in a matter of months? Wouldn't the other Aurors be a little…disgruntled? It really isn't fair, Kingsley."

Kingsley nodded. "I know you feel that way Harry, but we're so desperate that I don't think they'll give you much of a hard time. Besides, they've seen what the two of you can do. You don't have to give me and answer yet, but-"

"I'll do it." Said Harry. He could see what he needed to do, even though it wouldn't be easy. But easy had never been his lifestyle.

"Me too," Ron said, his voice a little shaky. But then he sat up straighter and looked Kingsley in the eye. "Just tell us what we need to do".

After talking to the boys a bit longer and telling them that he would send them letters by owl that would give them further instructions, he led them into the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Molly and Arthur, for disrupting your Holiday. Please carry on." Kingsley said, shaking Mr. Weasley's hand.

"Oh Kingsley, wouldn't you like to stay for dinner? It's almost ready! And there's plenty." Molly said, still looking a bit confused about while he was there.

"No thank you, Molly, I have a lot of work to do. I'm sure I'll see you all very soon." And with that he walked into the garden and out the gate, disapparating.

It was quite silent until Percy spoke up. "Well, what in Merlin's name was that all about?"

Everyone looked at Harry and Ron. Harry, who had taken Teddy back into his arms, spoke up. "He wants Ron and me to start Auror training next month, so we can be full Aurors by the end of the summer."

There was a shocked silence, then Bill broke it. "Aurors by the end of the summer? How?"

Ron and Harry went on to explain everything Kingsley had said to them, and then everyone's shock turned to exclamations of congratulations. But when Ginny turned to give him a hug, she could see a tightness in her smile, and sadness in her eyes. He was about to suggest they go out and talk when Mrs. Weasley told everyone to sit down for dinner.

"Wait," Said Bill, bringing Fleur close to his side. "As long as people are making announcements we have one of our own." He looked down and smiled at his wife and then turned back to his family. "Fleur is pregnant!"

Everyone immediately began hugging the couple and giving their congratulations. Mrs. Weasley, so overcome with emotion that she burst into tears was heard saying, "Oh a baby! Our first grandbaby! I noticed you had gained weight my dear, but I didn't want to say anything! But a baby! When is it due?"

Fleur, choosing to ignore the weight comment except for a slight eye roll answered, "eet is due at ze end of May, I am around my fourth month."

"How wonderful!" Exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley still seemed too much in shock to put many words in, but he just kept shaking Bill's hand.

Somewhere in the midst of all the chaos, George had made his way back into the house. "What the bloody hell is going on here?" he exclaimed. Everyone laughed and hurried to tell him all the good news.

Later that night, everyone else had gone to bed except Ginny and Harry. They were sitting in the living room, huddled on the couch with a warm fire in the fireplace. Ginny had been mostly quiet, with her head tucked underneath Harry's chin.

"What're you thinking about Gin?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"I'm thinking… how much I hate you for making me find a new seeker halfway through the year. We were favorites for the cup!" She said, but Harry could hear a smile in her voice.

Harry chuckled. "Ginny, with you as captain I have no doubt that you guys will still win the cup." He brought her around to face him. "How do you really feel about me leaving school?"

"Well, I'm going to miss you a lot and I probably won't be able to see you more than once a month because of how intense your training will be. But I can see how important to you it is…and its my job to support you in whatever you do, right?"

Harry kissed her gently on the forehead. "Ginny, I'm so lucky to have you in my life. And I already discussed it with Ron. I'm going to move into his extra bedroom, so I'll be closer than you think!"

That made Ginny smile. "I guess we'll just have to make the best of it. I promise not to get frustrated with you too often."

That made him laugh, and he leaned in and kissed her deeply for a long time, only pulling back when they both needed air.

Ginny smirked at him. "I can't wait to see the newspapers when people start finding out. '_Harry Potter, Auror Extraordinaire_!' It'll be great!"

"Oh shut up!" he said, leaning in to tickle her, which made her shriek. He didn't let up until they heard Percy whisper loudly on the stairs.

"Will the two of you PLEASE be quiet? Some of us have work in the morning!"

"Sorry Perce," they both said together, then laughed quietly as they snuggled back up.

They were quiet for a few minutes longer, and Ginny thought Harry might have dozed off, and she was well on her way, but then he whispered quietly.

"Hey, Gin?"

"Yes Harry?"

"I love you. A lot."

Ginny, with her eyes still closed, smiled to herself. "I love you too."

Thanks everyone for your patience and for keeping up with this story, even though I don't deserve it because I'm the worst at updating. I promise I'll update again… as to when, I have to idea. But I'll try and be prompt. Leave your thoughts please!


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